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Senshuraku Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
As this chaos basho wrapped up, I was lucky enough to get a decisive final Sunday. My mind kept going back to Natsu 2012, the basho where it came down to Tochiohzan and Kyokutenho, a similarly unlikely pair both also going for their first yusho. I don't remember who I was rooting for; the main thing I remember is how disappointing the sumo was. It was a big moment--we still bring it up frequently ten years later--but Kyokutenho won it by backing up a little while Tochiohzan fell down in front of him. In a word, it sucked.

I was especially reminded of that yesterday, the big showdown of this tournament, Taka vs. Taka. I know who I was rooting for--Takakeisho--but more so I was rooting for good sumo. My ideal outcome? Would have loved to see Takakeisho blast the living bejeesus out of Takayasu, planting a huge flag in his yusho: "I'm here." What we got was neither rikishi doing anything to cause himself to win, both doing plenty to cause himself to lose, and Takakeisho doing more of the latter. The idea that Takayasu set up a possible yusho while spinning about and having no idea what was going on in the match, and thus securing a "win," was just kind of sad.

So, going into today the powder in my excitement box was pretty damp. Cautious. Worried. I still cared who was going to win, but more than that I was praying for some good sumo again, to put the taste of yesterday back in the cupboard.

Would today be any better? Let's find out.

YUSHO MATCHES

K Takakeisho (12-2) vs. M3 Nishikigi (8-6)
Part of my trepidation stemmed from the gobsmacker that Takakeisho, in this key bout, was paired against Nishikigi. Now, there is no question that no one had a more pleasantly surprising tournament than Nishikigi, but that just serves to remind me that he came in to this tournament as a guy who didn't look like he belonged at this rank and I spent the first third of the basho making fun of him. But here he was, trying to defend sumo's honor. Hey, I was happy for the guy--what an inspiring basho for him--but it seemed a bit of an embarrassment that this was the guy they chose to pair Takakeisho with. The reason for it was clear enough: Nishikigi was the highest ranked wrestler Takakeisho hadn't yet faced. So, given this match he'd have faced the top 14 guys besides himself, plus Aoiyama (who he was given instead of Yoshikaze, a good choice). But I would have rather seen him against Okinoumi or Onosho, both of whom came into the day with ten wins and have a much stronger track record than Nishikigi. Despite their lower current rank, they were objectively better guys.

But Nishikigi was what we got. So okay, let's do it, what happened already?!?

As Mike set this up for you correctly yesterday, Takakeisho needed to knock Nishikigi back at the tachi-ai and Nishikigi needed to get the belt. Takakeisho showed the importance of this tachi-ai with a false start, and Nishikigi showed it by coming out of the crouch early, looked like: advantage, Nishikigi. However, neither thing that either guy wanted to happen happened: Nishikigi didn't get the belt, and, Takakeisho lost the initial push. What you had was Nishikigi playing Takakeisho's game, pushing Nishikigi back. It looked bad for a Takakeisho; a lame-o pull and desperate sideswipe got him closer to the edge. However, curiously, at this point Takakeisho took over: gave up on the pull and faced up to Nishikigi. Nishikigi pursued way too slowly and offered too little forward action. It was then that you knew he was giving up. The finish was sloppy: Nishikigi pulled a bit, went backwards, and crumpled in front of Takakeisho, putting one hand to the dirt and one leg in the air, unsure if he should make it look better by falling down backwards or forwards. Whichever way, the hand in the dirt made it hataki-komi.

Nishikigi and his team apparently wanted us to get a playoff. He had a really good tournament, and this was just at bit of active duty service. Unfortunately, that's how this works. So, 0-1 so far on the hopes and dreams for good sumo.

S Mitakeumi (6-8) vs. O Takayasu (12-2)
As long as we talked about Takakeisho's schedule, let's review Takayasu's. Like Takakeisho, he was sent against the top 14 available guys plus one lower guy, in his case Daieisho, which, like the Aoiyama selection for Takakeisho, made sense at the time with Daieisho still hanging around the leader boards. Takayasu went a little deeper down the banzuke than Takakeisho, getting Chiyotairyu and Yoshikaze in place of Kisenosato and Goeido, as they'd dropped out by the time he was scheduled to face them, but that's a fairly even trade. Pairing him against Mitakeumi today was also sensible and a good match up given what was left on the banzuke; Mitakeumi is of course a Sekiwake and won two tournaments ago. Takayasu had to face him at some point. Of course, there is also that caveat in there: "given what's left on the banzuke." Of the six guys ranked Ozeki or Yokozuna coming into the tournament, only two fought today--and they were the lowest ranked of the six--the top four wrestlers were all out. I know, I know--Goeido and Kisenosato don't really belong in the top four. But there is no question this was a depleted banzuke.

All right, all right already, what happened?!?

Great stuff. Takayasu went hard at the tachi-ai, looking determined, ramming up into Mitakeumi. However, he left himself too wide open, and Mitakeumi was lower and had the better follow-up, one arm around Takayasu on the outside and one inside. Neither hand was on the belt but for the moment his attack immobilized Takayasu. Mitakeumi drove with his legs and pushed Takayasu straight to the straw. There, he went for a pull--bad idea--and back to the center the match went. The stalemate was on, with Mitakeumi bent over low with his left arm in Takayasu's pit and his right holding onto a string of Takayasu's sagari like it was a rip cord. Takayasu spread his feet, angled his body away, and pulled up on Mitakeumi's left arm while reaching in for the belt with his own left hand. He got it. But when he eventually went for an outside grip on the right as well and failed, Mitakeumi used the momentum of Takayasu's force-out charge against him, pivoting, lifting Takayasu over his leg, and using his right arm-wrap of Takayasu's left to dump Takayasu dramatically to the dirt, sukui-nage.

And just like that we had a new, 22 year old champion: Takakeisho. His dad cried happily in the stands, and another year of sumo had come to an exciting close.

THE END OF EVERYBODY ELSE'S YEARS TOO

M13 Onosho (10-4) vs. M10 Yutakayama (5-9)
Onosho had this one and dominated it, putting two hands in the neck and face, then putting them right back there when they got knocked away. When resistance came again, he kept them there and kept pushing, and pretty soon he was a winner, oshi-dashi, garnering a special prize in the process. He even gave a shout of happiness/defiance into the crowd. Guess he's ready to be back.

M10 Sadanoumi (6-8) vs. M14 Daishomaru (6-8)
Daishomaru turned away from the line of the match and darted backwards while pulling desperately on the head. Sadanoumi played it right, using solid following pressure and torpedoed Daishomaru out, oshi-dashi. Daishomaru essentially offered exactly nothing here, which is my general impression of him anyway. I sure wish this were enough to drop him to Juryo.

M9 Kotoshogiku (9-5) vs. M15 Meisei (9-5)
There was a special prize in the offing for Meisei here, and I thought Kotoshogiku would give it to him. Wouldn't that be gracious? Well, I guess Kotoshogiku doesn't care about being gracious, his Ozeki pride still bruised, his home-town instincts still strong. He wrapped Meisei up good, then danced and hopped all over the ring with the little beluga he was holding trying to twist or bounce out of it. Eventually, at the tawara, Kotoshogiku knocked Meisei entertainingly over, sukui-nage, a nice, crushing/collapsing throw. As Bilbo said to Gandalf, "it was just a bit of fun!"

M11 Chiyonokuni (5-9) vs. M8 Takarafuji (6-8)
It is interesting how much action some guys get in even before the tachi-ai contact. Here Chiyonokuni feinted with his arms, then stuck a pole in Takarafuji's face anyway. What is the point of all this arm whirling? Does it really get you anything? The other guy should just ignore it and plough forward. In that split second, do you really have the time to react to all that arm-flashing? Takarafuji didn't, and commenced a solid domination of Chiyonokuni. Part way through, getting consistently driven back, Chiyonokuni resorted to more theatrical hijinx, rearing back and "hitting" Takarafuji hard in the side of the face. On the replay you can see he just connected with his fingers across the cheek and nose. How much good does that do? None: Takarafuji continued driving his bus and pushed Chiyonokuni out yori-kiri. Good.

M8 Ikioi (5-9) vs. M16 Chiyomaru (4-10)
More "best of the losers" action. Ikioi may have finally found his level; we're used to him cleaning up and looking great down low, then getting his clock cleaned up high. Here at M8, he was uncharacteristically even-steven. Chiyomaru advanced on him with some cautious face-striking action, but Ikioi was just waiting until he got close enough, then put his arms around him and ushered him out backwards, yori-kiri, as if Chiyomaru were a nice big fluffy pillow. Fluffy Pillow will have to regroup in Juryo next time; he looked terrible this tournament and virtually all year; he turned in these win totals over the final five tournaments: 6, 5, 5, 6, 4.

M7 Abi (6-8) vs. M14 Chiyoshoma (6-8)
Speaking of looking terrible, Chiyoshoma stood up as tall as he could at the tachi-ai and got one faint strike in around the top of Abi's head before Abi and those long, out-stuck arms of his were all over him. Chiyoshoma was playing Abi's game, and of course losing doing it. However, at the edge, Chiyoshoma blindly put his arms around Abi and thrust him down and to the side. Lo!, it worked, tsuki-otoshi. Chiyoshoma looked surprised to find himself still standing with both feet on the tawara, safe and sound, with Abi's carcass strewn in the dirt to his right. Oh, Chiyoshoma. What a mess figuring you out is.

M6 Takanoiwa (6-8) vs. M12 Endo (8-6)
I was just admiring the kinks in Takanoiwa's legs, how far apart and far back he kept them, giving him a nice, low, driving position, looking like an archer in Greek sculpture, when I noticed, "hey, Endo has nice low position, too." His legs weren't as beautifully lined, but his L-formed body was well set. At that moment Endo paid this stance off with some drive, got the momentum going in his favor, and had Takanoiwa retreating and pulling desperately with. You could see it was all over; Endo followed Takanoiwa sufficiently closely and yori-kiri'ed him out. This was our fourth bout in a row where both guys were having inconsequential tournaments, but hey, it was a nice Sunday morning where I was so I didn't mind. I went and took a break to fry up some sucuklu yumurta--spicy Turkish sausage with eggs.

M15 Daiamami (7-7) vs. M5 Asanoyama (5-9)
Something consequential? The kachi-koshi or not decision for Daiamami (but does that really matter that much)? I thought Asanoyama would do much better this basho, and he showed up here, grabbing a solid belt grip part way through and using it to wrench Daiamami around and put Big Sweety's back to the straw. A little more straightforward effort and action, and out went Daiamami, yori-kiri. Daiamami looked like he wasn't trying: he didn't do much with his arms and went pretty straight backwards. Let's say that he was too fat to get around his own bulk and get at Asanoyama. Or something.

M12 Aoiyama (10-4) vs. M4 Yoshikaze (7-7)
Aoiyama, looking like he had just eaten 50 links of sujuk and 50 eggs (they do have sujuk in Bulgaria, by the way), came out and put his own big fat sujuks (in this case arms) into Yoshikaze's body, again and again. And he remembered to step forward rather than backwards. Not surprisingly, this led to forceful oshi-dashi win.

As for me, I ate just one sujuk link and just one egg. My breasts remain much smaller than Aoiyama's.

M9 Daieisho (9-5) vs. M3 Ryuden (5-9)
Daieisho gave this one away. He was pushing on Ryuden's face, but not with much conviction, and made little attempt to hit him. Instead he was peering into Ryuden's eyes, trying to get a good look if Ryuden has glaucoma. Ryuden said, "thanks!" and slipped into moro-zashi, there for the sleepy taking. Ryuden drove little Daieisho around the ring a bit; Daieisho escaped a little and threw in one pull, which served to give Ryuden more momentum, all around the body inside at the straw for the yori-kiri win. This match was just a little thing.

Boy, that sausage and egg good, though.

M11 Okinoumi (10-4) vs. M2 Tamawashi (9-5)
Another sleepy bout from a guy who is usually full or repulsive power and battering strikes. Tamawashi was kind of hanging out, putting his nose into Okinoumi's shoulder, resting his arms forward. So Okinoumi bore down on him and knocked him over, tsuki-otoshi.

Next! I should have some more sausage.

M2 Tochiohzan (8-6) vs. M4 Shodai (7-7)
Finally we had what everyone expects: a guy with a non-7-7 record giving a 7-7 guy his kachi-koshi. Tochiohzan was putting in a desultory pushing performance and indicating he wanted to get both arms inside. But "indicating" is different than going ahead and doing. Shodai backed up a step with a jerk and put an end to the moro-zashi threat. Tochiohzan then pulled Shodai a bit before lazily stepping out under Shodai's responsive pressure, oshi-dashi. Oh, okay.

M13 Takanosho (4-10) vs. M1 Hokutofuji (6-8)
Takanosho was wildly trying to knock Hokutofuji's arms away, but he might as well have been doing it with a blindfold on for all the coordination in it. Once Hokutofuji, who had been working on some neck thrusts, noticed this, he stepped aside and let Takanosho fall down, tsuki-otoshi. Mmm, sausage…

M1 Myogiryu (7-7) vs. M5 Chiyotairyu (7-7)
Nothing like a good 7-7-doshi match to come along and perk things up. I'm afraid, though, that Chiyotairyu wasted some of his potential force with two false starts. His tachi-ai was weak, the pull he then instantly tried somewhere between mild and non-existent, and the oshi-dashi linear force out by Myogiryu was swift and academic. As somebody in my household said, watching casually over a cup of coffee, "zannen." "Too bad." Yep. Prolly this was about getting Myogiryu into the sanyaku.

M6 Kagayaki (4-10) vs. S Ichinojo (6-8)
Ichinojo hung his arms danglingly down as if stricken by a strange paralysis, and allowed himself to be pushed out oshi-dashi. And that's all I have to say about that. Blech.

M7 Shohozan (9-5) vs. O Tochinoshin (8-6)
Truly amazing: Shohozan had Tochinoshin backwards to him and ready for the okuri-dashi three times, but Tochinoshin was to big and solid to be removed; he kept turning back to the action and eventually knocked Shohozan down.

Then everybody discovered it was false start and they had to do it over from scratch right away, no mono-ii, just "hey, get back out there and get your hands down this time." Not sure I've seen that before. Nobody else had noticed the false start: not the crowd, not the gyoiji, not the wrestlers. To be fair, Musoyama's hand was up in the air instantly and throughout the match: "yo. Yo. YO!"

Hell, I ain't messin' with Musoyama. You?

When they were supposed to go on the redo, Tochinoshin was too gassed, and had to step away. This was kind of interesting; how long can you delay like this? I don't blame him: they go all out, and are usually heaving for breath for several minutes afterwards. But if I were the gyoji, I'd say, "get your hands down. Let's go." Them's the breaks.

They did go. And then they had to start over AGAIN. Gyoji called it the false start this time: they were already in the clinch, fighting hard, but the gyoji was shouting at them and separating them. No mercy.

And I have to start yet a new paragraph, and we still haven't seen any fighting that counts. The crowd was very happy with all this. Tochinoshin looked exhausted. When they finally started for the third time, the Grunting Bear made an appearance: deep, stomachy sounds came out of Tochinoshin as he got Shohozan by the belt and worked him back. Shohozan survived beautifully at the edge, pivoting and pulling, and sent Tochinoshin flying towards the straw. Looked like Tochinoshin's toe touched down as he shot along the rim, but the gyoji let them play on, and Tochinoshin grabbed back ahold of Shohozan and drove him out. For extra fun, he was all over the shoulder with the blood that was gratuitously streaming from Shohozan's face.

However! A mono-ii was called, and it was pretty clear on the close-up where Tochinoshin's toe had in fact grazed the dirt just outside the ring partway through. As a consequence, they correctly awarded the match to Shohozan. The kimari-te was uwate-nage, which didn't make any sense to me. The kimari-te should have been "what a glorious mess."

Which is a fitting way to sumo up this tournament, this sport as well. What a glorious mess.

Day 14 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Hooboy. I really don't know how this basho can get any worse, and I really don't know how the yaocho can get any more obvious. I thought today that we'd finally get something straight up that mattered, but the Association needs to invest more in acting lessons for these guys. With Aoiyama voluntarily bowing out of the yusho race the last two days, NHK was able to proudly display the official leaderboard with only three Japanese rikishi left in the hunt as follows:

12-1: Takakeisho
11-2: Takayasu
10-3: Okinoumi

The only scenario for M11 Okinoumi was a Takayasu win today and then a loss by both dudes above him, but why even monkey around with that? Today against hometown favorite, M9 Kotoshogiku, Okinoumi just gave the Geeku moro-zashi from the tachi-ai and did exactly nothing as the former Ozeki drove Okinoumi back and knocked him off of the leaderboard just like that scoring the uncontested yori-kiri win. For what it's worth, Okinoumi does end the day at 10-4 while Kotoshogiku improves to 9-5, but this was Okinoumi following guys like Aoiyama and Daieisho who just eliminated themselves from the yaocho race..er..uh..the yusho race voluntarily.

With Okinoumi officially gone, it all came down to Ozeki Takayasu vs. Komusubi Takakeisho. A Takakeisho win would give him the yusho on the spot, and after a tachi-ai that was low-impact and fiddy-fiddy for both parties, Takakeisho caught Takayasu with his right arm raised and extended firing a beautiful shove into the Ozeki's chest that sent him wobbling back to the edge. Takayasu stumbled forward a half step trying to keep his balance, but he was all but turned 90 degrees with Takakeisho bearing in. Needing just a final forearm chivvy to pick up his first career yusho, Takakeisho put a light right arm to Takayasu's left side and then just took a dive as Takayasu pirouetted away wondering what the hell happened.

This bout was yet another great example of someone getting his ass kicked thoroughly failing to execute a single move along the way. And yet, Takayasu magically came way with the win. The crowd erupted in excited shock initially, but after digesting what has just happened, there was a noticeable murmur running through the crowd, and why not? This was a horrible bout of sumo and one of the worst yaocho we've ever seen, especially considering the situation. Frankly, I don't know how the Sumo Association can still keep a straight face through all this, but the result is both rikishi being tied at 12-2 heading into the final day.

As for the politics behind the dive, simply go back and re-read my Day 12 intro. The fact that Takakeisho had the yusho handed to him on a silver platter and STILL chose to do the honorable thing and commit hari-kiri there on the dohyo is a clear testament of just how entrenched this sport is in its ways. My Western mind can't really comprehend it because I'm wanting this sport to be organic and real, but the evidence atop the dohyo clearly suggests otherwise.

I mean, is it even worth my trying to breakdown the matchups with yusho implications tomorrow? Since I know no other way, let's talk a bit about tomorrow assuming of course that at least something will be fought straight up.

Takayasu draws Sekiwake Mitakeumi who posed no challenge to Ozeki Tochinoshin today. Tochinoshin locked up the Sekiwake's right arm at the tachi-ai, got his own right arm easily to the inside, and then grabbed the left outer grip all the while barreling Mitakeumi backwards. The Sekiwake didn't even bother to counter in this one he was so overwhelmed. Tochinoshin clinches kachi-koshi with the win while Mitakeumi more importantly suffers make-koshi at 6-8. The make-koshi is important because there's no reason for him to try harder tomorrow against Takayasu.

In a straight-up bout, anything can happen. Takayasu has no momentum whatsoever heading into senshuraku, so it's hard to say who has the advantage heading into tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if Mitakeumi just bows to Takayasu and lets him win, but if they do fight straight up, it's anyone's bout.

On the other side, Takakeisho draws M3 Nishikigi, and on the surface, that might seem like an easy matchup for the Komusubi, but Nishikigi clinched kachi-koshi today from the jo'i by besting M8 Takarafuji in a pretty good hidari-yotsu contest. Takarafuji could do nothing with Nishikigi's strength or length, and the M3 eventually took advantage of a momentum shift when Takarafuji went for the right outer to gain moro-zashi, and from there, he just lumbered forward scoring the nice yori-kiri win finishing at 8-6.

Once again, assuming a straight up fight tomorrow against Takakeisho, Nishikigi will win the bout if it goes to the belt, so we'll see if Takakeisho can knock the M3 out of his element from the tachi-ai. If Nishikigi upsets Takakeisho tomorrow, I expect Mitakeumi to just roll over for Takayasu, which would give the Ozeki his first career yusho. You just have to go back two basho when Mitakeumi was gifted a yusho, so I'm sure he'll be happy to return the favor.

Predicting yaocho is very difficult to do, but we know it when we see it. Due to time constraints, I'm not going to cover any other bouts on the day, and let's hope tomorrow that it doesn't come down to a will they won't they scenario.

I'll let Harvye wrap it up, and then I may have some post basho comments.

Day 13 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
Takakeisho is taking this tournament. Takayasu has had plenty of chances the past few years, and has not risen to the occasion. I don't think he's rising to it this time either: where is the electricity around his matches? The dominance? Whatever you may think of Takakeisho's sumo, it is better than Takayasu's right now. No fumbling around. Straightforward wins. Takayasu has had a few squeakers, like his toe-dance split-second victory over Ichinojo on Day 11, whereas Takakeisho is scything through the competition like an autumn reaper.

Set aside for a minute your opinion on Takakeisho's skills. Is he being gifted wins? Yes. But this happens with all new winners--it is not a feature unique to Takakeisho or reserved exclusively for Japanese champs. Terunofuji got his lone win by being allowed to cruise--coronated--the last few days. Tochinoshin was great but not that great. Kotoshogiku won just 8 matches in the tournaments both before and after his lone yusho; for Goeido it was 7 before, 9 after. Think all the way back to Asashoryu telling the press he was going to "give Hakuho a 69." This is the way it works. Sumo writ-large has felt the magic around Takakeisho and is bowing to it. And in fact, his sumo has been pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. Some wrapping-up arrangement to tie a bow on things just goes with the territory.

And we've been waiting a long, long time. Takakeisho is 22 years old. As he's already been in the division for a bit, it is easy to forget this, but essentially he is that bottle-rocket, that out of nowhere youth taking over the division--as we've dreamed of for over a decade. There is lots of room to grow, yet he is already here. Look at the other new winners of late: Kotoshogiku, Goeido, and Tochinoshin were already pretty old news, and even Mitakeumi, turning 26 next month, feels younger than he really is. In terms of a phenom youngster, Takakeisho is the real deal.

Yes, you may grouse that he isn't as good as Hakuho or Kakuryu. He clearly isn't. You may also say he isn't as good as Tochinoshin, Tamawashi, or Ichinojo. Perhaps not. But this is the way sumo has been going for a long, long time, and I'm here to raise a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale in "kampai!" to Takakeisho: here, friends, is a hard-hitting youth who could have a long, great career ahead of him. Set aside your takoyaki of tears, look up at the blue skies, and take a long, clean draught of it. Just for fun. Here is something. Let's enjoy it.

M11 Chiyonokuni (4-8) vs. M16 Arawashi (1-11)
Ooh, I could write like this all day: easy win for Chiyonokuni, easy to break down for me. The easiest possible, in fact, because Arawashi wasn't there at all; he withdrew with an injury to his pride. Or his knee. Or his flux-capacitor, god knows!

M14 Daishomaru (5-7) vs. M10 Yutakayama (5-7)
Looking up from her table and watching this two second bout, my wife indignantly said, "sonna!" Which means "what the?!?" Why? Because Daishomaru stepped to the side and hit old Yutakayama in the back of the noggin, donk!, and it knocked him straight to the ground, tsuki-otoshi. She followed up her first comment with, "zenzen omorshiroku nai," or, "that's no fun at all." I'm the much bigger sumo fan, so I'm used to this kind of crap sumo, and it was gratifying to have a casual fan drop in and immediately recognize and remind me, "hey, what a load of shullbit!" It's like, "oh yeah…"

Well, we're off to a roaring start!

M10 Sadanoumi (5-7) vs. M14 Chiyoshoma (5-7)
Could the Sad Man and Mr. Freebie save us from our despair? Yes, they could! A series of manful belt throws saved the day. First Chiyoshoma drove Sadanoumi towards purgatory, his hands so deep on the belt he might have tickled Tartarus. Then Sadanoumi nearly tossed Chiyoshoma to Hell itself, surprising us all with a back-arching wrench on Chiyoshoma's arm and some fobbling fingers on Chiyoshoma's cheek that left both of them dangling over the abyss like sinners on their death beds, toes on the tawara, bodies in the air. Then, Heaven! Chiyoshoma survived against all odds, pulling out stellar balance, and tossed Sadanoumi into the netherworld, sukui-nage.

M9 Kotoshogiku (7-5) vs. M13 Onosho (9-3)
Merry Christmas, Fukuoka! Onosho opened with a ground-giving pull, whoops! Magically, he survived at the edge as Kotoshogiku drove him back. Well, not magically--Onosho is just way better! So Onosho summarily drove the big ex-ozeki all the way across. Whoops, again! Instead of pushing Kotoshogiku easily over the edge, Onosho gently lowered Kotoshogiku back into the ring off the straw. Zhhooop! There Onosho was, getting turned around to the straw himself, where Kotoshogiku was able to gaburi him out, kime-dashi. Yay! Yay! Kachi-koshi for the hometown hero! Yay! Sigh.

M16 Chiyomaru (3-9) vs. M8 Takarafuji (5-7)
What a useless tournament for Chiyomaru. He thrust away purposefully, but Takarafuji was using his passive wait-and-see thing. He was also doing his "I'm a brick wall impression," which he can only use when he is able to simultaneously use his "hmm, I'm a much better rikishi than this guy" thing. In other words, Takarafuji was going nowhere, so neither was the match. Eventually, all of the fruitless pushing by Chiyomaru resulted in a little slippage, and a frustrated looking Chiyomaru shot past Takarafuji, who turned and was suddenly demonstrative in pushing him out, okuri-dashi. Heh. It is a true definition of caution in sumo if you only get aggressive if what you've got to push on is a guy's rump. Drive that bus towards kachi-koshi, Takarafuji, drive that bus.

M8 Ikioi (4-8) vs. M13 Takanosho (3-9)
I'm not a Takanosho believer at all, so I wasn't real thrilled to see him thrusting Ikioi back to the straw. Like, whatever, man. Therefore I was much more pleased when Ikioi grabbed in for the body and started heaving Takanosho around in circles like a berserker trying to open a particularly well sealed jar of salsa. They went around a few times, but dammit, that lid just would not come off. And Takanosho did something good: managed to stay behind Ikioi enough that Ikioi couldn't twist the salsa lid any more, so Takanosho pushed Ikioi out from the side instead, yori-kiri. No tortilla chips for you, Ikioi!

M11 Okinoumi (9-3) vs. M7 Shohozan (8-4)
Thrust battle. This quickly devolved into a grip-'im-round-the-upper-body kind of thing, which was good for Okinoumi. Except that both grips were on the outside. Shohozan started to wiggle around, as is his wont, like a cat in a moving car. Ever tried to do that, drive around with a loose cat in the car? I couldn't even get down the driveway. Climbed all over my head and stuff. Anyway, Okinoumi knew what to do with that cat: he said, "I'm bigger 'n you!" and slung Darth Cat out the window bodily with those wrapping arms, sukui-nage. Never drive with a loose cat.

M7 Abi (6-6) vs. M15 Meisei (7-5)
I was kind of looking forward to this: two young guys with some flare. Bring the genki! Unfortunately, someone had spread a big slick of Crisco just where Abi needed to step, because just as he was trying to extend his fingers through the back of Meisei's eyeballs Abi's feet went paddling along the floor behind him instead like the Road Runner getting going in a cartoon, and down he went, tsuki-otoshi, as Meisei stepped out of it and to victory. I had a friend once who speculated whether there is any strategy involved in the salt throwing. I thought that was really dumb, but maybe Abi should lay down a few pounds. Gritty. Crunchy. Feels good on the bottom of the feet.

M12 Edno (7-5) vs. M6 Kagayaki (4-8)
Oops, I wrote "Edno" by mistake. Let's leave it that way. Kind of brings out his foolish aspect. The dopeyness of his lame-o results as contrasted with his handsome heroic image. A whiff of Homer's "doh!" Edno did a really nice job here, though. Got underneath and stood Kagayaki up, BOOM! Did a nice job of keeping Kagayaki befuddled with rapid thrust-slaps. Zoomed in for a left outside belt grip, turned Kagayaki around, and beat Kagayaki's eggs into an omelet, oshi-dashi. Congratulations on kachi-koshi, Edno.

M3 Nishikigi (6-6) vs. M15 Daiamami (6-6)
Super duper underdog shooting star Nishikigi opted for a chest-to-chest battle with big, round low-ranked foe Daiamami. Or rather, noses-to-shoulders battle. There they were, eyes peeping over each other's teppo-pole bruises. Nishikigi was undoubtedly thinking, "finally someone I can beat without it being a surprise!" But it was surprising anyway: Daiamami got moro-zashi against Nishikigi, which should have been a good position for Daiamami, but Nishikigi left so little room in there that the moro-zashi was just the signal for Nishikigi to go ahead and win: he promptly smothered Daiamami out kime-dashi, like the pillow-murderer in that stupid horror novel I read in high school, Morgengrauen. Wow, I can't believe Nishikigi is on the verge of kachi-koshi. Well, the pounding will probably resume next basho.

M2 Tochiohzan (7-5) vs. M5 Asanoyama (5-7)
Yeah, I pegged Nishikigi, Tochiohzan, and Myogiryu as helpless cannon fodder in the upper ranks this time around, and here they are coming in to today with 6, 7, and 5 wins respectively. Get some sumo experts in here! Well, it ain't so easy. Anyhoo, unlike Daiamami, Tochiohzan got his moro-zashi but wasn't going to waste it. This was a pretty good match featuring a couple of momentum changes and a dangerous moment at the edge for Tochiohzan. However, it was at that dangerous moment that Tochiohzan found the grips he wanted: two hands inside around the body. Lo! He turned the momentum of the match and thrust Asanoyama over and out of the ring, oshi-taoshi, one of my favorite kimari-te, like a guy knocking down a six foot high stack of 2-liter soda bottles in the grocery store. Do they stack those like that? Have I ever seen such a thing knocked down? Doesn't matter, that's what it looked like to me. Kind of liquidy and bouncy and heavy and discombobulated and falling and stuff.

M2 Tamawashi (7-5) vs. M1 Hokutofuji (5-7)
Is it just me, or does Hokutofuji have a lot of false starts? Poor, nervous bumbler. He always seems kind of lost. I want him to find himself. Get that confidence back he had when he first came up and hadn't had a losing tournament ever or something like that. Well, anyway, I'd be nervous facing Tamawashi, too. Who made a fool of him. Tamawashi backed up, kind of an in-motion, post-tachi-henka, then got behind and pushed the stumbling Hokutofuji over with two hands to the rump, okuri-taoshi. Which sounds a lot like oshi-taoshi but just isn't the same thing at all.

M1 Myogiryu (5-7) vs. M4 Shodai (6-6)
Little, resurgent Myogiryu dominated the guy I once said in print would be Japan's next Yokozuna, looking like Hakuho out there. Myogiryu neutralized Vanilla Softcream (Shodai) with a hand to the face, then got low and controlled Cream's arms, blocking them off from any holds or any inside action. Myogiryu then deftly maki-kae'd into dual inside positions and bodied quickly up, from which advantageous position he smoothly drove Shodai back and pushed him easily off the dohyo, yori-kiri. My goodness.

M3 Ryuden (4-8) vs. K Kaisei (3-9)
Nice slapping tachi-ai, like spam hitting plexi-glass. I thought the chest-to-chest battle was a mistake for Ryuden, as Ol' Spam himself, Kaisei, was smothering Ryuden straight towards oblivion. However, Kaisei's angle was careless, and to Ryuden's own surprise Ryuden found room to turn at the edge, and suddenly it was Kaisei who was stuck without room to maneuver. Kaisei is kind of big and stuff, so Ryuden tipped him over in the little space left to him, sukui-nage. He's not real dynamic, Ryuden, but with all the thrusting and slapping in the division, who needs more dynamic? There's something to Ryuden; he's usually solid.

K Takakeisho (11-1) vs. M12 Aoiyama (9-3)
And here we are, at the big moment! It's interesting how some basho we put this stuff up top, and sometimes we don't. It's like, well, there are only two guys in the yusho race, and neither of them seems like a really big deal, so let's just do it in order. And there I spent my whole intro talking about what a big deal Takakeisho is. Well, it's all relative. I do like him. But Terunofuji was like to give me goosebumps and light them on fire all at the same time. Takakeisho, my skin remains flat. My mind perks up a little: "ooh, this could be fun!" And it often is. But sometimes not. Well, Aoiyama did what he usually does when he loses: walks backwards instead of forwards. Takakeisho, meanwhile, was trying to do what he usually does when he wins: push hard. But he threw too many pulls in there. The result was a see-saw battle in which Takakeisho looked so-so and Aoiyama looked dangerous. I wonder if anyone has ever been knocked out by being hit by swinging arm-flesh? Not bone or fist or muscle, but the flab the hangs down below the upper arm? Anyway, as they battered and tugged each other about they ended up back in the center of the ring, where Aoiyama lost his footing and fell over, cracking the earth and sinking into the crater. Well, okay, just the falling over part. They ruled it oshi-taoshi (my favorite), but it wasn't a very good oshi-taoshi--it looked a little exaggerated. I'm not sure Aoiyama really had to fall over there, and he certainly wasn't pushed over by Takakeisho as the kimari-te suggests. No matter. At least not for those rooting for a Takakeisho championship: whatever it was, this looked fairly dramatic, a pendulous mountain of mottled blue flesh crashing to the dirt in front of a smooth bodied young caramel smoothie, your pending champ, Takakeisho.

M4 Yoshikaze (7-5) vs. S Ichinojo (4-8)
Heh. We've had a lot of two-arms-inside today, but it hasn't always worked out for the guy who got it. Ichinojo, the intended victim of it, stepped lightly back out of it while wrenching up and over on one of the inside arms, summarily dumping Yoshikaze nearly instantly to the clay, kote-nage. Yes, Yoshikaze has become a light breeze. And Ichinojo didn't even have to huff or puff to blow him to smithereens.

S Mitakeumi (6-6) vs. M5 Chiyotairyu (5-7)
Ho hum. Just a little distraction. Mitakeumi evaded after the tachi-ai, which was smart. However, in a rare recovery for him from having lost the initial momentum, Chiyotairyu pulled an ole to the side in turn, sweeping Mitakeumi past him to a sand-kicking-up, stumbling loss, hataki-komi. We're just marking time here, folks, waiting for Takayasu.

M6 Takanoiwa (6-6) vs. O Tochinoshin (6-6)
I'm mildly interested in Tochinoshin's kadoban-or-not fate. This was a really good one. Takanoiwa went after it like gangbusters, getting good low position and a grip on the front of the belt. Tochinoshin was hard-pressed, and I mean that literally: hard. pressed. But he had the presence of mind to reach over the back of the High Cliff (Takanoiwa) and get a hold of the belt with a long, powerful left arm. Still, Tochinoshin looked doomed: Takanoiwa was shaking him around at the straw like a dead donkey and it looked like Tochinoshin was about to go out. 'Shin is pretty strong, though: he bore down and survived. Right about then Takanoiwa's max effort betrayed him: he was out of control, his feet got too far apart, and his perineum (yes, that's right, the area between the anus and the scrotum!) started to slide inexorably down towards the dirt. Colloquially known as doing the splits. Tochinoshin gave the coup de grace, pushing Takanoiwa down on his gluteus maximus (colloquially known as his butt), koshi-kudake. Remember what I said in the intro about Tochinoshin being great but not that great? While he is clearly one of the best right now, he has to work hard to beat the other good wrestlers. This was Takanoiwa, and the guy almost beat him in a test of sheer oomph.

M9 Daieisho (9-3) vs. O Takayasu (10-2)
And here we were. Every day, there's this, "look who we have in the last match" boggling effect. Well, okay, let's do it. Unfortunately, Daieisho had no intention of winning. He did intend to resist (defense), just not insist (offense). The result was that Takayasu beat him around the ring reel gud for a bit, lots of steep pulls and sharp neck jabs, before knocking Daieisho over backwards oshi-taoshi. Takayasu looked pumped at the tachi-ai and struck as quick as he could, and was thunderously active throughout. Daieisho had good gumption to stick in there as well as he did: when you're just taking it, there's going to be a lot to take. You do worry about a guy getting hurt when he's as vulnerable to a hammering as this, but that salt-basket they're always falling on looks pretty soft. Daieisho went prone hard, flying through the air, but looked okay. Come back tomorrow, little man, and pick up where you left off yesterday.

It is Taka vs. Taka tomorrow, and if 'Keisho wins, that's it, yusho, whereas if 'Yasu wins they're tied heading into the final day. Mike breaks it down like a hammer to glass.

Day 12 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
At the start of Day 11, NHK flashed a chart that featured the years during the Heisei Era where at least three rikishi took their first yusho during the calendar year. Such a feat will be accomplished this year due to the first yusho from Tochinoshin, Mitakeumi, and then the eventual winner of the Kyushu basho. The last time three rikishi picked up their first championships during a single year came all the way back in 2000...coincidentally the year when the late Itai went public about yaocho in sumo and how it all works. In 2000, the three rikishi to score their first victories were Takatoriki, Musoyama, and Kaio, and now it's taken 18 years for it to happen again.

So what happened during those 18 years, and why are we suddenly seeing this phenomenon again? I think the answers to SumoTalk readers are obvious, and the reason I even wanted to start with this is to point out the comments made by the announcers as they showed the graphic. The narrative is that a changing of the guard is taking place where the young rikishi are now rising up and taking over sumo. Young rikishi?? Tochinoshin is 31, and the fading Mitakeumi isn't exactly a spring chicken at 25. They were of course referring mainly to Takakeisho who is just 22 years old, and I believe the youngest rikishi ranked in Makuuchi. Takakeisho's run this basho has not been organic, and you have to go back to Day 7 to find the last time a rikishi tried to beat Takakeisho...and ultimately succeeded. Takakeisho's last legitimate win came in the first third of the basho, so in order to cover for this run, there's talk of the younger generation rising up to take over. Whatever.

The strange thing is that I don't think Takakeisho is the favorite to the take the yusho as that honor belongs to Takayasu. You have to take into consideration the whole senpai-kohai system and the way it affects sumo. It's in play among the oyakata, and it's a big factor among the rikishi. The yusho birthright this basho belongs to Takayasu, and as far as I'm concerned, this is a battle between the proper hierarchy in sumo and the person or group who is financing Takakeisho's run. At the end of day 10 I started seeing the headlines of people mentioning that this run by Takakeisho was a matter of "on-gaeshi" towards his former stable master, Takanohana. "On-gaeshi" means to return a favor in Japanese, and it usually implies that a junior person is paying back someone senior to them. Now, if Takakeisho had this in him all along, why wait until they kick his oyakata out of sumo?? Why not do on-gaeshi and start vying for the yusho a year ago and becoming the sport's next Japanese Yokozuna under the direct tutelage of Takanohana?

The answers are that Takakeisho cannot do this on his own, and the content of the sumo manifests that. They're saying things like "it's a changing of the guard" and "this is Takakeisho's returning the favor to his real master," but that's all shullbit to try and explain away how fake this basho has been.

As we enter day 12, the yusho has come down to two rikishi in Takakeisho and Takayasu. Sure, there are plenty of rikishi still mathematically in the race, but they're not going to overcome the hierarchy that favors Takayasu and his Ozeki rank (which is why everyone is letting up for him), nor will they overcome the money behind Takakeisho this basho. Takakeisho's one bout lead is huge, but the two rikishi will go head-to-head during the weekend, and Takayasu is not going to let Takakeisho win. Now, the Komusubi can topple the Ozeki on his own, and my biggest concern is that both of these rikishi have had everything handed to them the entire basho, so it's impossible to say whose actually fighting better. Because Takayasu controls his own destiny, the yusho race is still up in the air.

For the sake of it, this is the actual leaderboard at the start of the day:

10-1: Takakeisho
9-2: Takayasu, Daieisho, Aoiyama
8-3: Goeido, Okinoumi, Onosho

Because everything should come down to Takakeisho and Takayasu, let's just go in chronological order again today.

M16 Chiyomaru wasn't able to create separation at the tachi-ai against J4 Hidenoumi, and so the latter was able to latch onto the front of Maru's belt with the left arm and work his right arm in deep to keep Maru standing straight up. From there, Chiyomaru just left his arms up high attempting to push, but Hidenoumi had moro-zashi and rushed Chiyomaru back and across in no time as both rikishi finish the day at 3-9.

M11 Chiyonokuni struck M15 Daiamami with a nice kachi-age to the chest leading to the migi-yotsu contest where Chiyonokuni was able to wrangle the left outer grip, and once obtained, he kept Daiamami as upright as possible while forcing him back step by step. The key here was Kuni's keeping Daiamami so upright that he was unable to counter, and this was textbook sumo from Chiyonokuni who ekes his way forward to 4-8 while Daiamami falls to 6-6.

M15 Meisei jumped into moro-zashi from the tachi-ai against M11 Okinoumi, but the veteran didn't panic allowing Meisei to force him back close to the tawara where Okinoumi suddenly sprang the kote-nage trap throwing Meisei over and down with the right arm wrapped around Meisei's left. It's worth mentioning that this was a proper nage-no-uchi-ai near the edge...a sure sign of a clean bout where both rikishi are in the expected positions. Okinoumi moves to 9-3 with the win and still has a slim shot at the yusho on paper while Meisei falls to a respectable 7-5.

M10 Sadanoumi and M16 Arawashi hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai, and as has been the case the entire basho, Arawashi stood there like a bump on a log allowing Sadanoumi to lift him upright with the left outer grip and force him back with out argument. Arawashi actually had the chance to counter with a right scoop throw as Sadanoumi was a bit out of position, but he just let the bout run it's course giving Sadanoumi the win. Sadanoumi is still alive at 5-7 while Arawashi falls to 1-11. I do believe that Arawashi's knee is giving him problems, but I also think he's selling a few bouts here along the way.

M10 Yutakayama met M12 Endoh with a meager left kachi-age, and it was meager because Yutakayama was actually moving back a bit. That allowed Endoh to be proactive and attempt to work his way inside with a tsuppari attack, but Yutakayama's counter tsuppari were too effective. After four or five seconds of frustration, Endoh attempted an inashi move where he moved out left trying to swipe at Yutakayama's right side to throw him off balance, but the inashi barely connected, and so Yutakayama was able to square back up easily and take advantage of his compromised opponent scoring the nice oshi-dashi win. Endoh falls just short at 7-5 while Yutakayama improves to 5-7.

Our first true leader on the day was M12 Aoiyama paired against M9 Kotoshogiku, and in Kotoshogiku's current condition, there is no way he can defeat Aoiyama in a straight up bout, so would Aoiyama or wouldn't he? From the tachi-ai, Aoiyama was proactive in keeping the Geeku at bay with tsuppari, but he let up midway allowing the former Ozeki to turn the bout to hidari-yotsu. Aoiyama was still in command at this point as he easily could have forced his way into the right outer grip, but he refrained and let Kotoshogiku have his way. The Geeku couldn't drive Aoiyama straight back, and so he attempted a left scoop throw that mildly moved the Bulgarian, but instead of trying to counter, Aoiyama just kept his arms high and wide as he backed up and all but begged Kotoshogiku to force him out. The reporter on the street (hana-michi) watched the replay with Aoiyama and called up to the booth explaining that Aoiyama commented, "I wanted to keep him away from the inside with my tsuppari, but I had no de-ashi." Right, and what goes unspoken is that Aoiyama chose not to use the lower body because Kotoshogiku did nothing to neutralize his attack from the start. Anyway, sucks to be a foreigner and at the bottom of the pecking order, but Aoiyama takes his place now at 9-3 while Kotoshogiku gives the fans something to cheer for at 7-5.

Just above Aoiyama in the pecking order was M9 Daieisho who also came into the day with just two losses. Against M13 Onosho, the two began with mutual tsuppari attack creating a nice start to the bout, and Daieisho proved the better thruster knocking Onosho back a step or two with some nice thrusts to the chest of Onosho. But after knocking Onosho back, Daieisho curiously failed to move forward, and when Onosho looked to push his way back into the bout, Daieisho went for a senseless pull, and that was all the momentum shift that Onosho needed to offer a quick tsuki and then go for a weak pull. Still, Daieisho went down far too easily putting both palms to the dirt with no other part of his body even coming close. Hate to say it fellas, but Daieisho was intentionally mukiryoku here as both rikishi now end the day at 9-3. Daieisho has never been a guy who has been hyped or touted as a darling, and while his sumo is much better than Onosho, the latter is hyped due to his youth and fed bouts as a result.

Before we move on, the force that prompted Aoiyama and Daieisho to fight mukiryoku today is the same force behind Takayasu.

M8 Ikioi blindly jumped forward at the tachi-ai as M14 Daishomaru henka'd to his left and offered a weak tsuki into Ikioi's right shoulder, but Ikioi just played along and belly flopped to the deck giving Daishomaru the cheap, one-second win. The majority of Daishomaru's wins are paid for, and this was another example as Ikioi made no effort to keep his feet or counter after the poor henka form Daishomaru. Ikioi suffers make-koshi fate at 4-8 while Daishomaru "improves" to 5-7.

M6 Takanoiwa jumped the gun a bit at the tachi-ai against M14 Chiyoshoma causing Takanoiwa to stand rather upright at the tachi-ai, but Chiyoshoma didn't make him pay agreeing to the hidari-yotsu contest where both dudes leaned in tight and secured right outer grips at the same time. From there, Chiyoshoma fired on a quick right outer throw that broke of Takanoiwa's right outer grip, but Takanoiwa pivoted nicely out of the way and used his left leg hooked up and under Chiyoshoma's right to lift him off the ground as he threw with the left inside grip. It was a pretty sweet finish, and I think both Mongolians were just going through the motions here as they would in keiko. Takanoiwa moves to 6-6 with the win while Chiyoshoma falls to 5-7.

In a terrible bout of sumo, M13 Takanosho and M6 Kagayaki sorta hooked up in migi-yotsu, but neither rikishi really wanted to commit. As both rikishi hunkered low and leaned into each other, Kagayaki just bodied his way forward nudging Takanosho back near the edge. Both rikishi traded weak swipes at the other's shoulder, and after Takanosho swiped Kagayaki, he had him turned 90 degrees at the edge, but as he rushed in for the hasty kill, Kagayaki grabbed his extended right arm and just yanked Takanosho outta the dohyo tottari style. Need a little more oomph than this as Kagayaki moves to 4-8 while Takanosho falls to 3-9.

M5 Chiyotairyu failed to fire any tsuppari at the tachi-ai M7 Shohozan instead opting to attempt a few pulls, but they were ineffective allowing Shohozan to tsuppari his way back into the bout with both rikishi near the center of the ring. Chiyotairyu ducked his head low, and so Shohozan just started slapping him silly with hari-te after hari-te, and the funny thing was, it didn't faze Chiyotairyu. Chiyotairyu finally clued in to the fact that he as getting his ass kicked, so he busted Shohozan in the chops with a beefy left of his own, and at that point the two went into the clinch with Shohozan in moro-zashi and Chiyotairyu wrapping his gal up high. Shohozan was too high for his own good, and so he wasn't able to force Chiyotairyu back and out straight way, so both dudes dug in for over a minute. Chiyotairyu finally tested the force-out waters, but he was so vulnerable to a counter and Shohozan proved as much pivoting out right and using his right leg to trip Chiyotairyu off balace as he wrenched him around and out for the very entertaining win. Shohozan picks up kachi-koshi in the process while Chiyotairyu falls to 5-7.

M8 Takarafuji and M5 Asanoyama hooked up in hidari-yotsu where Takarafuji just let the younger rikishi have his way. Asanoyama fired a quick scoop throw with the left that sent Takarafuji over to the edge, and Takarafuji did nothing to react as Asanoyama rushed back in and forced Takarafuji back and across in a bland performance that left both rikishi at 5-7.

M7 Abi used his long tsuppari to pummel M4 Yoshikaze around the ring, but he never drove him out despite knocking Yoshikaze to the edge. After relenting on his tsuppari attack, Abi tried a weak pull with the left and a light outer belt throw with the right, but he wasn't trying to win this one and it was obvious. Yoshikaze had failed to score on anything up to this point, and so Abi just put both hands up high as if to pull, but all he did was back himself up to the edge without ever pulling, and finally Yoshikaze was able to offer a shove or two that of course sent Abi back and across. This one was for the fans as Yoshikaze is gifted a 7-5 record while Abi graciously falls to 6-6.

M2 Tochiohzan overpowered M1 Myogiryu today taking advantage of a slight henka to the left from Myogiryu to secure moro-zashi early and use it to fling Myogiryu over near the edge. Myogiryu had nary a pot to piss in at this point although he did wrap an arm around Tochiohzan's neck in kubi-nage fashion, but he was too far gone as Oh made the force-out official finally picking up that seventh win (against five losses). As for Myogiryu, he falls to 5-7 with the loss.

Hokutofuji latched onto a left frontal grip at the tachi-ai against M4 Shodai leading to a nice hidari-yotsu bout between both parties. Though Hokutofuji seemed to gain the advantage from the tachi-ai, Shodai used some nice, short scoop throws to force the action back to the center of the ring where both rikishi dug in nicely. After a stalemate of 15 seconds or so, Shodai used his left hand to twist Hokutofuji by the belt while pushing his right arm into Hokutofuji's side leading to a nice tsuki-otoshi win for the Kumamoto native who moves to 6-6. As for Hokutofuji, he prolly coulda attacked a bit harder after the tachi-ai, but oh well as he falls to 5-7.

Komusubi Takakeisho has been gifted wins from all the foreigners to this point, and he was looking for more love from M2 Tamawashi, one of the best furreners of them all. Tamawashi put two hands forward at the tachi-ai, but he never fired a single tsuppari as Takakeisho was flailing away but not connecting on anything himself. After two or three seconds, Tamawashi just ducked his head down allowing Takakeisho to fire off another one of those roundhouse lefts that struck lightly at the back of Tamawashi's shoulder, but it of course sent Tamawashi flying out of the ring. It's just more political nonsense here as the foreigners are refusing to spoil this party. Takakeisho is gifted the majority of his 11-1 record while Tamawashi knows his place at 7-5, so let's just hope he's getting handsomely compensated.

In an absolutely lame affair, Komusubi Kaisei refused to secure the right inside position that was wide open against M3 Nishikigi and instead opted to move left and fake a weak pull. All that did was send Kaisei's momentum moving towards the edge, and so Nishikigi easily connected on a weak shove that sent Kaisei back for good. The purple seats in attendance loved this one as Nishikigi is gifted the win at 6-6 while Kaisei retreats further to 3-9.

Sekiwake Ichinojo was flat-footed at the tachi-ai keeping his feet aligned against M3 Ryuden easily giving Ryuden moro-zashi. Credit Ryuden for driving the Mongolith back, but he couldn't get him across that tawara as Ichinojo stayed alive with a left outer grip. This enabled Ichinojo to move back towards the center of the ring and make Ryuden give chase. Ryuden still had moro-zashi, but he couldn't budge Ichinojo back, and so the the Mongolian grabbed two outers over the top and just slung Ryuden over and out uwate-nage style leading with the left outer. Tough break for Ryuden, but he just couldn't get Ichinojo up and over the straw as both rikishi end the day at 4-8.

Ozeki Goeido announced his withdrawal yesterday to the disappointment of ones of fans, and his kyujo gave Sekiwake Mitakeumi a much-needed win moving him to 6-6. As for Goeido, he picked up kachi-koshi yesterday after a gift from Kaisei leaving the Ozeki with eight wins and guaranteeing him kachi-koshi at 8-7 in the end.

The theme this entire basho for the foreign rikishi has been to just sit back and let the Japanese rikishi have their day, so why would Ozeki Tochinoshin spoil Ozeki Takayasu's run at this point?? He wouldn't as the two Ozeki hooked up in migi-yotsu where Tochinoshin let Takayasu grab the left outer grip. For his part, Tochinoshin could have easily reached for and gotten a left outer of his own, but he just stood there waiting for Takayasu to make his move. Said move was a left dashi-nage with that outer grip, and Tochinoshin just walked his way across the straw never looking back. Takayasu is gifted a 10-2 record after the contest while Tochinoshin falls to a harmless 6-6.

As the dust settled, Takakeisho still maintained is one bout lead over the Ozeki while several of the other two-loss rikishi bit the dust. Here's how we look heading into Day 13:

11-1: Takakeisho
10-2: Takayasu
9-3: Daieisho, Okinoumi, Aoiyama, Onosho

The key matchups on Day 13 are Aoiyama vs. Takakeisho and Takayasu welcoming Daieisho. Assuming straight-up sumo, Aoiyama is the obvious favorite against Takakeisho in a bout that features rikishi with a very similar push-to-set-up-the-pull style.

As for Takayasu vs. Daieisho, this is a dangerous bout for the Ozeki because the content of Daieisho's sumo has been much better. I realize that Daieisho is ranked at M9, but the banzuke in sumo has been meaningless in terms of strength and ability for a few years now, so I actually give Daieisho the edge.

Those bout assessments are based on the assumption that we'll get straight up sumo, but I'm afraid that's not going to be the case. And unfortunately, the real drama in sumo is will they or won't they.

Harvye will tomorrow.

Day 11 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
Day 11 and this basho is Takakeisho's for the taking; only Takayasu is realistically still challenging.

M16 Arawashi (1-9) vs. J1 Yago (6-4)
Arawashi grabbed first, but Yago grabbed better, meaty on the belt, and tossed him out, yori-taoshi.

M15 Meisei (6-4) vs. M13 Takanosho (3-7)
Takanosho blasted little Meisei in the face, but no matter, Meisei one-punched him dead, tsuki-otoshi.

M14 Chiyoshoma (5-5) vs. M11 Okinoumi (7-3)
Chiyoshoma went for the throat, but Okinoumi wrapped him up and twirled him down, uwate-nage.

M12 Aoiyama (8-2) vs. M10 Yutakayama (4-6)
Biff, baff, boom! That's what Aoiyama tried first. Then: puuuuuuulll! That's how he won, hataki-komi.



M10 Sadanoumi (4-6) vs. M16 Chiyomaru (2-8)
A tsuppari festival led to a linear force out win for the bigger badass bulge bully, Chiyomaru, tsuki-dashi.

M9 Kotoshogiku (6-4) vs. M15 Daiamami (5-5)
Who knew big Daiamami could be such a frenetic ball of action, flailing and bellying 'Giku out, yori-kiri.

M14 Daishomaru (4-6) vs. M8 Takarafuji (4-6)
Takarafuji caught Daishomaru, backed him up, and sat him on his ass (just that quick), oshi-taoshi.

M8 Ikioi (4-6) vs. M11 Chiyonokuni (2-8)
Blasting away at Ikioi didn't work. But when Ikioi charged, stepping aside worked for 'Kuni, tsuki-otoshi.

M13 Onosho (8-2) vs. M7 Shohozan (6-4)
Linear force out for Onos...wait! No! Darth Hozan twisted, grabbed moro-zashi! And WON, yori-kiri!!!

M7 Abi (6-4) vs. M12 Endo (6-4)
Abi stood too tall, charged too recklessly. Endo was ready: scooped him from below and won, yori-kiri.

M9 Daieisho (8-2) vs. M6 Kagayaki (3-7)
Tachi-ai WHAP! That stood Kagayaki up. Slaps drove him out, oshi-dashi.



M4 Shodai (5-5) vs. M6 Takanoiwa (4-6)
Shodai looked terrible here, a lifeless wheelbarrow. Takanoiwa trundled him instantly out, yori-kiri.

M5 Asanoyama (4-6) vs. M3 Ryuden (3-7)
Nice body and belt fight could earn like 20 lines. I got just one: Ryuden spun Asa down, uwate-nage.

M3 Nishikigi (4-6) vs. M1 Hokutofuji (5-5)
Truf: Nishikigi is doing great at M3. But I think Hokutofuji let himself be slung down, tsuki-otoshi.

M1 Myogiryu (5-5) vs. M2 Tamawashi (6-4)
Slap once, slap twice, and pull ‘im down at your feet. Easy hataki-komi win for dominant Tamawashi.

K Takakeisho (9-1) vs. M2 Tochiohzan (6-4)
Push, wait, push, wait, push, wait, pull: very typical hataki-komi win for Child of Destiny, Takakeisho.



S Mitakeumi (5-5) vs. M4 Yoshikaze (5-5)
Where's my Ozeki run?!? Not here. A bit of grappling, then Mitakeumi fell down, uwate-dashi-nage.

O Goeido (7-3) vs. K Kaisei (3-7)
This spun slowly like the second hand on an indecisive watch, then Kaisei sat on the straw, yori-taoshi.

M5 Chiyotairyu (5-5) vs. O Tochinoshin (5-5)
Power vs. Strength? Nope. A lot of stupid tsuppari dickering before Chiyotairyu took a knee tsuki-hiza.



S Ichinojo (3-7) vs. O Takayasu (8-2)
Heaving, pulling, slapping this way and that. Messy. Ichinojo's toe out split seconds early, hataki-komi.



Tomorrow Mike sums each bout up in a single, powerful punctuation mark.

Day 10 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
Yesterday Gary toyed with the idea of posting a leaderboard, but he realized it was a fruitless task when there were fourteen rikishi who qualified assuming two losses off the lead (rikishi with three losses or less). If you examine this list of "leaders" at the start of the day, you'll only find one foreigner in Aoiyama at 7-2 from the M12 rank.

Just think about the sheer domination for the last two decades, and now consider that we head into day 10 of the Kyushu basho where the only foreigner even remotely involved in the yusho race is a token guy ranked in the bottom-third of the division.

Through nine days, here's where the elite foreign rikishi..um.."competing" in this basho stood:

Tochinoshin: 5 losses
Ichinojo: 6 losses
Kaisei: 6 losses
Tamawashi: 4 losses

It's such a big crockashit, and I think it's largely manifest by the large number of empty purple seats that keep showing up for the basho. I know that Kyushu draws from the smallest population, but compared to last year, it isn't even close. Fake parity in sumo can only go so far in my opinion.

Since I'm pushed for time today, let's pick and choose from bouts of interest.

M13 Onosho kept himself in the faux yusho race hooking up with M14 Chiyoshoma in hidari-yotsu and driving Shoma straight back and out. Chiyoshoma actually had the right outer grip, but he just executed a nice outer belt throwing pulling Onosho straight into his body as he stood square to his foe with his back to the tawara. Onosho moves to 8-2 while Chiyoshoma falls to 5-5.

M12 Endoh got the early left arm to the inside of M16 Arawashi and drove the Mongolian straight back and across without argument. Not sure what Arawashi's M.O. this day. I'm sure that left knee is gimpy, but the dude is not even trying. Endoh moves to 6-4 with the win while Arawashi falls to 1-9.

Fan favorite M9 Kotoshogiku got his left arm lightly to the inside and followed M14 Daishomaru around the perimeter of the ring scoring the yori-kiri win in three seconds. This one didn't even go chest to chest as Daishomaru pretended to evade to his left rending himself the easy force-out fodder. Kotoshogiku moved to 6-4 with the win while Daishomaru landed at 4-6.

For the record, NHK is drawing the leaderboard down to just two losses, so M9 Daieisho looked to keep pace against M13 Takanosho. The two both came with decent tsuppari, but Daieisho was sharper driving Takanosho upright forcing him to evade laterally. Takanosho moved left and actually connected on a good pull of Daieisho nearly felling him to the dirt, but Daieisho just did connect on a final shove that caused Takanosho to step out barely before Daieisho's hand hit down. Daieisho picks up kachi-koshi at 8-2 while Takanosho falls to 3-7.

If all sumo was fought straight up the rest of the way, your yusho favorite would be M12 Aoiyama, but we couldn't even get through the rest of today without more yaocho, so it's a fruitless thought. Aoiyama faced M8 Takarafuji today, and this was a case of which rikishi would be able to dictate the pace. Aoiyama came with his tsuppari, but he was hesitant not wanting to commit and get burned by a counter move. As for Takarafuji, he applied good pressure looking to time a push into Aoiyama's outstretched arms, but he never could connect on a game-changing shove. After about eight seconds, Aoiyama had Takarafuji pushed back far enough that he had plenty of room to finally execute a pull and keep his feet in the dohyo with enough time to allow Takarafuji to crash to the dirt. This had the potential to be a better bout, but is was a sleep as Aoiyama moves to 8-2 while Takarafuji falls to 4-6.

When M11 Okinoumi is of a mind to win, M7 Abi has nothing in his arsenal to best the veteran, and with Okinoumi trying to win today, he was easily able to swipe Abi's tsuppari away causing Abit to slip and spin his wheels. Abi somewhat recovered enough to attempt a pull back and to his left, but Okinoumi knew what was coming and had Abi pushed back and out in short order. You rarely see Okinoumi win by oshi-dashi, but it's just an example of the veteran beating Abi at his own game...and doing it with ease. Okinoumi moves to 7-3 with the win while Abi falls to 6-4.

M2 Tochiohzan was looking for moro-zashi at the tachi-ai against M4 Yoshikaze, but the latter came in so low that Oh was only able to get his left inside and not very deep at that. With no position to attempt a force-out charge, Tochiohzan happily reported to Plan B, which was to move left and pull, but Yoshikaze knew it was coming and was able to mount a force-out charge. Tochiohzan attempted to counter at the edge with a left scoop throw, but it was too little too late as Yoshikaze forced Tochiohzan to step back and out a split second before Cafe was thrown to the dirt. This was a rare win for Yoshikaze that was actually straight up. Tochiohzan falls to 6-4 with the loss while Yoshikaze is even steven at 5-5.

This basho is beginning to look more and more like the Nagoya basho where Mitakeumi was gifted the yusho for doing absolutely nothing. This tournament's benefactor seems to be Takakeisho, and I say "seems" because the minute his foes start trying to beat him, he can maybe win two on his own the rest of the way. The question is: are they still going to let him win? The answer was a big yes today against M1 Hokutofuji who redefined the term slow at the tachi-ai standing straight up with arms extended. It took Takakeisho about two and half seconds to push Hokutofuji out as Hokutofuji lamely moved left and then lifted his right leg up at the edge like a girl learning on the shoulder of her prom date for a picture. When Hokutofuji wants to win, he does that henka tachi-ai to the left going for a quick pull, but today he just stood straight up and said "do me now." And Takakeisho did moving to 9-1 in the process. Hokutofuji falls to a quiet 5-5.

Before we move on, I wonder if someone is financing this run by Takakeisho out of spite to honor the recently retired Takanohana. Takakeisho is/was his most promising rikishi, so it could be that they're trying to give Takanohana some love after his resignation.

M2 Tamawashi's initial charge was the exact tachi-ai that was missing from Hokutofuji today. The Mawashi shaded left offering a paw to Komusubi Kaisei's throat before attempting to spin Kaisei off balance with left thrusts to the side. Kaisei wouldn't go easily threatening to get to the inside and pull his gal in close, but Tamawashi would always find that one tsuppari to create separation again. The bout lasted about 10 seconds, and Kaisei just couldn't solve Tamawashi's tsuppari attack in the end. Tamawashi moves to 6-4 while Kaisei falls to 3-7.

So here's a question. Why can't Mitakeumi perform the same sumo he did two basho ago when he took the yusho with a 13-2 record?? The correct answer is that Mitakeumi IS performing the same sumo; the difference is that his opponents aren't letting him win here in Kyushu. I mean, M4 Shodai?? Shodai caught Mitakeumi with a nice left tsuki to Mitakeumi's right side sending the Suckiwake back quickly, and while Mitakeumi was able to stand his ground a bit and force the action back the other way, Shodai's nice tachi-ai enabled him to get the left inside deep coupled by a more shallow right on the other side. Mitakeumi never could get an arm of his own to the inside, and he eventually went for a frustrated pull. When he did, Shodai pounced using his moro-zashi position to force Mitakeumi back quickly to the edge where he finished him off with a nice shove. Both rikishi end the day at a bland 5-5.

How foreign did it feel to have two..er..foreigners show us what a real bout of sumo was? I mean, the Sekiwake Ichinojo - Ozeki Tochinoshin bout came out of nowhere and was filled with all of the subtle goodies that I simply miss in sumo these days. The two hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai where Ichinojo enjoyed the left outer grip, but Tochinoshin quickly used his own deep right position to attempt a scoop throw that knocked the Mongolith off of the outer position. That move right there was the best move of the basho through the first 10 days. With both rikishi now in just migi-yotsu, the two dug in chest to chest, and after Ichinojo gathered his wits, he attempted a force-out charge, but Tochinoshin held him up and latched onto the left outer grip in the process, and now it was the Ozeki with the upper hand. Tochinoshin needed just a few seconds of rest, and then he mounted a perfect force-out charge lifting his opponent upright to neutralize a counter move and then forcing him across. Wow, I think I need a cigarette after that one as Tochinoshin moves to 5-5 while Ichinojo falls to 3-7. And this was of course the same approach Tochinoshin took against Takakeisho a few days ago right?

Whenever M5 Chiyotairyu slaps downwards from the tachi-ai, you know he's not trying to win. That was his tactic today against Ozeki Takayasu as his hands barely grazed the Ozeki's torso as he readily agreed to the chest to chest contest, a position that favors Takayasu. It's interesting too because Chiyotairyu won the tachi-ai, so for him to just let the bout go to the belt was nonsensical. The two hooked up in migi-yotsu where Chiyotairyu just gave Takayasu the left outer grip, and when Takayasu mounted his first force-out charge, the M5 just back up in a straight line and right outta the dohyo. Takayasu moves to 8-2 with the win and still controls his destiny...or density as George McFly would say. Chiyotairyu is a harmless 5-5.

In the final bout of the day, Ozeki Goeido henka'd to his left grabbing the back of M5 Asanoyama's belt and just sending him down in his gore right across the starting lines. Yeah, the henka was cheap, but this bout was fixed from the start, so it didn't matter as Asanoyama was ready to put both palms to the dirt. Goeido moves to 7-3 while M5 Asanoyama falls to 4-6.

And that's a wrap on the chuubansen, so let's now post the leaderboard at the end of the day:


9-1: Takakeisho
8-2: Takayasu, Daieisho, Aoiyama, Onosho

Takakeisho draws Tochiohzan tomorrow and then Tamawashi the day after that, and the Komusubi is the underdog in both bouts. He can beat Tochiohzan straight up on a good day, but Oh is still the better rikishi at this point. Takakeisho will also likely get Takayasu shortly thereafter, and the Ozeki will go all out in that one.

Regardless, none of the rikishi on that leaderboard are performing yusho-worth sumo. None of 'em.

Harvye compensates for the sumo tomorrow.

Day 9Comments (Gary Jones reporting)
The sumo fans of Kyushu must scent something on the wind. Is it finally their turn to experience the blissful, ticket-renewing satisfaction of a Japanese yusho victory?

Tokyo has been spoiled lately and had a Japanese yusho to enjoy only last year, delivered by none other than Kisenosato. Then Osaka fell just two months later to the Tokugawa like siege of the great one again. Nagoya is still drunk from celebrating Mitakeumi's triumph this very summer. What about lonely Kyushu, have they been forgotten? The cake from Tochiazuma's 2003 triumph has grown stale. This is theirs by rights dammit!

I'm tempted to do a premature leader-board, mostly for the giggles because in list form the fourteen names would go down half a page, but also to highlight exactly what you're left with in sumo when you repulse the Mongolian horde. So I'm going to do another, more wistful, list instead.

41 Hakuho
25 Asashoryu
09 Harumafuji
05 Kakuryu

Chiyoshoma (M14) 4-4 vs. Tokushoryu (J3) 3-5
If sumo was a fight not a tussle Chiyoshoma would be top five. As would scrappy Takakeisho of course. And when nobody's watching him with a Juryo guy he can do straight up sumo. Who knew? Left hand in, a destabilising throw followed by a quick shuffle to yori-kiri. Picture perfect.

A now 5-4 Chiyoshoma faces Onosho tomorrow, will he do this again or come out wearing clown paint?

Onosho (M13) 6-2 vs. Daiamami (M15) 4-4
Our first leader-board boy of the day. On paper Daiamami's record seems OK, but it's paper thin. He has beaten only one guy with a winning record. Which might explain how Onosho could smash him to bits sooooo easily.

A standard oshi-sumo bout up until the tawara, when mean child Onosho took two big handfuls of cleavage, gave a little squeeze and pushed him not out, but off. Yes Daiamami, go away.

Aoiyama (M12) 6-2 vs. Meisei (M15) 5-3
It won't be long before they throw Aoiyama up the banzuke as a yusho contender, he's becoming pesky down at M12. Who around him is likely to beat him on this form? He rumbled after Meisei who couldn't possibly stand his ground. Over and out.

An impressive seventh win by oshi-taoshi to be sure. But there was something there from Meisei which suggests he's a keeper. A right ham left in the air was grabbed and he attempted what could have been a spectacular tottari. He did succeed in bringing down a lot of flesh, fortunately not on top of himself. Not even the most skilled professional wants Aoiyama on top.

Daishomaru (M14) 4-4 vs. Okinoumi (M11) 5-3
Okinoumi is fading away. He is on course to get his 8 again but at this rank it's hardly a sign of greatness. He has never made 8 wins at Komusubi or Sekiwake. He's 33 now, if he is ever going to do it then he must make a lot of kachi-koshi in 2019.

Daishomaru helped him with that today in what was possibly the fastest hataki-komi of the tournament. Okinoumi just sink plunged the little guys head.

Chiyonokuni (M11) 2-6 vs. Takanosho (M13) 2-6
Chiyonokuni hurt his right arm against Kotoshogiku yesterday. So following the best medical advice from the S.A he attempted to beat Takanosho to death with it. Three times he lead with the injured right arm. Saving the good one for tomorrow perhaps? Remarkably, this didn't work out too well. It all ended in a horrible mess they called oshi-taoshi but Chiyo put his hand to the sand to bale out. For that he used his left.

Mainoumi and Terao were in attendance so they showed the nostalgia inducing video, as is only right. What struck me was how lean they both were. There is no one making it in the top division like that now. I doubt skinny would work anyway, things move on (so the saying goes). It would be nice to see someone shake it up in the top division like that though. Maybe there could be some sort of balancing out system for guys under 100kgs. A roll of coins or a small bat perhaps?

Chiyomaru (M16) 2-6 vs. Yutakayama (M10) 2-6
Chiyomaru's two wins have come against Arawashi and Takanosho a pair of tough studs who arrived at the arena with a combined record of 3-13. Which is still better than this pairing. They were so cautious I had to check for red mawashi in case two 60 year old oyakata were celebrating still being alive. Slow and steady oshi, that's the way, we don't want anyone falling over. Careful now. Nearly there. Yutakayama now has three wins.

Arawashi (M16) 1-7 vs. Daieisho (M9) 6-2
Must we really be subjected to this? Perhaps the elders in black could have the power to eliminate the two worst rikishi each basho? Demoting them automatically to Juryo. That might keep the standard up. So would giving the head judge a shotgun loaded with buckshot. After yesterdays horror show Arawashi would be the first one gone.

Daieisho is still in the running for yusho glory (hey don't smirk, this basho hasn't finished messing with us yet) and this is the match-up? Anyway, Arawashi bounced straight up wearing one of those new “Push-Here!” T-shirts by Fruit of the Loom. A win by the fabled half-a-second-oshi-dashi. But by whom?

Endo (M12) 5-3 vs. Takarafuji (M8) 3-5
Endo has been forgotten about, bigger men have done bigger things. Like winning yusho and gaining all kinds of promotion. This is a good thing for the handsome young Endo. He can now mature slowly and develop his immense potential. Oh wait, he's just turned 28. He can now age slowly and let all the youngsters take a run at an old veteran. It was nice while it lasted.

Today he tried to find the missing link between Takarafuji's head and torso. While he wasted his time doing that Taka just took the wide open left outer and turned the man-child completely around. A casual looking one handed okuri-dashi soon followed.

How often do Endo's opponents get to inspect his mawashi'ed ass when he loses? Is there a tiny tattoo of a Japanese boy band?

Sadanoumi (M10) 4-4 vs. Shohozan (M7) 4-4
Sadanoumi seems to like the early days of a tournament putting in some impressive effort. Then he remembers he is Sadanoumi and relaxes. Wrong guy to do that with here.

Shohozan treated him badly. He opened Shohozan's house of ass-kickings and waffles with a hari-te then bounced sadman's head off his shoulder. A triple pack of nodowa was served with a side of teeth shattering open-handers. All finished off with an oshi-dashi to the floor. Desert was a sweet strut.

Waffles are off.

Abi (M7) 6-2 vs. Ikioi (M8) 3-5
Abi hit a five bout win streak here in Kyushu, including some awkward veterans. That's not easy to do. Just ask Goeido. He started with gusto going for his preferred moro-te-zuki against Franken-oi and dug in his heels with strong throat thrusts, actually managing to make some progress.

People say that his arms wore out, others that he just realised how hard it is to bully a monster with bolts in his neck but he stopped and took hisself the right uwate. Legend has it he just disappeared. Taken by oshi-dashi. He was so young.

Kotoshogiku (M9) 4-4 vs. Kagayaki (M6) 3-5
Rhythmic clapping for the local hero to start this one. Kagayaki nearly spoiled the party when he put his head down at the tachi-ai. Geeku stumbled like an old man with two bad knees. Kagayaki waited a moment then put his head down again. This time on Geeku's shoulder. No prizes for guessing who won by yori-kiri a moment later. Hint, one of 'em is 5-4 now.

Nishikigi (M3) 3-5 vs. Takanoiwa (M6) 2-6
Well, who would have thought it from these two? The best bout of the day so far. Great positional play from Takanoiwa. He went for and got an early left mae-mitsu and had his other arm under Nishikigi's shoulder which he used repeatedly to control his foe. Nishikigi first pulled back and then knocked the grip away, stuffing his own arm in low to block but crucially didn't get a grip.

Takanoiwa got a second mae-mitsu and swung his man around 180 degrees doubling up on the mae-mitsu and with his head under Nishi's chin he finished him off for the yori-kiri win. For a brief moment Asashoryu was back and it felt good.

Asanoyama (M5) 4-4 vs. Tamawashi (M2) 4-4
Tamawashi has alternated his wins and losses to a geometric perfection. Is he painting pretty pictures on the scoreboard to amuse himself? That would explain a lot. He got another oshi-dashi win today to make a stripey zebra.

Tamawashi looked relaxed here, too much so, Asa managed to stay in the bout for longer than he deserved. Even when they rotated and Tama had his heel to the tawara (twice) he didn't sweat it. Second gear all the way for the big man.

Myogiryu (M1) 4-4 vs. Hokutofuji (M1) 5-3
Myogiryu looks set to run the Maegashira table. He started at M16 and has kept going up up up. That should count as a successful comeback from injury. If he hangs in there for the last week he could be rewarded for his efforts with the infamous Komusubi rank. From where he will be destroyed and probably re-injured.

Hokutofuji hit hard and shifted left, again. Myogiryu was waiting for it and stuffed a fist under the left shoulder and powered through. Simple push out here.

Tochiohzan (M2) 6-2 vs. Kaisei (K) 2-4-2
Oh my, Kaisei went big before he went home. He just soaked up a pretty good charge from Tochiohzan who claimed moro-zashi from it, for all the good it did him. Kaisei left a lead leg out for Tochi to run up against. This raised him up far more than Tochi had intended for his now dead-in-the-water de-ashi. Kaisei used the gravitational pull of his mass to keep Tochi in close and turn him all the way round and out by kote-nage. Wonderful footwork from such a huge man.

Make no mistake Tochiohzan is still dreaming of yusho. There's some love for him too. It's in the shadow of the sexier choices, but the signs are there. A quick onset of bird flu for Takakeisho and an unexpected genital strain for Takayasu and Ohzan is the man.

Shodai (M4) 4-4 vs. Ichinojo (S) 2-6
Ichinojo looked to be in a good mood before the bout started, there was a spring in his step and a whistle on his lips. Shodai wanted no part of it.

As soon as the mountain started moving his way Shodai put on a pair of running shoes and sprinted for the hills. I should criticise him for not standing his ground, for not going mano a mano with Ichinojo. But I understand.

Ichinojo will be much, much better in the January basho. Not because of the lower rank he seems determined to acquire. Nor will it be due to the easier bouts against mostly Maegashira hopefuls. No, it's because Hakuho is going to slap him silly.

Mitakeumi (S) 5-3 vs. Ryuden (M3) 2-6
Holy smokes, Ryuden held Mitakeumi. I mean he really held him, in the centre of the ring, with Mitakeumi doing his damnedest to grind forward. It was like two bulls with locked horns and neither giving ground. The only true trial of strength this basho has delivered.

The deadlock was broken when Ryuden put his head in Mitakeumi's face and raised him up. He then had the time to improve his grip on the loose mawashi Mitakeumi was packing. Mae-mitsu is the fashion of the day so why not? He used it to run the unraveling rascal round the ring.

Massive effort from Ryuden here, Mitakeumi was game for it too, but he ain't the man yet.

Yoshikaze (M4) 4-4 vs. Takayasu (O) 6-2
Another day of growling, another win for daddy bear. Today he used the 3-steps to success self-help book.
Step 1 - Smash hard into poor Yoshikaze (shoulder is best).
Step 2 - Shove hard at poor Yoshikaze (neck is best).
Step 3 – Pull down hard on poor Yoshikaze (whatever you want, he's toast).

Credit Takayasu for what he is trying to do here in Kyushu. With all the other top ranked rikishi dropping like flies, it falls to him to be the official banner carrier for the S.A. and it doesn't come easy. With Goeido and Tochinoshin a combined 9-7 with worse to come, all the pressure of rank is on the cuddly teddy bear. And no-one cares. Go Takakeisho!

Goeido (O) 5-3 vs. Chiyotairyu (M5) 5-3
Henka! Kyushu has been an amazingly henka-free zone with most selecting the manly forms of tachi-ai. Until Goeido did that.

It might come as a surprise to sumo fans, though perhaps not to Sumotalk regulars, but Ozeki Goeido has had a real hard time with Chiyotairyu. An Ozeki tied 6 wins apiece with a man who has never made kachi-koshi beyond M3. In this crazy basho their clash today was as good a draw as any. Until Goeido did that.

Now 6-3 he has just served notice he intends to be in the yusho hunt until the bitter end. Tomorrow he tests himself against the other M5 Asanoyama, can't wait.

Takakeisho (K) 7-1 vs. Tochinoshin (O) 4-4
Takakeisho has a 4-1 advantage over Tochinoshin. That alone should set alarms bells ringing for the Tochinoshin fans but pass the salt bucket there's more to rub into the wound.

Excepting those with only one meeting, this is the most dominating head to head win-loss ratio in all the 20 Makuuchi bouts arranged for today. So get ready to pucker up. Both ends.

Aaaaaaaaand it's now 5:1.

It wasn't even difficult. Tochinoshin put his hand towards the mae-mitsu and was blasted backwards. Takakeisho gave him both barrels of his finest oshi-sumo. Two thrusts in two seconds and Tochinoshin is both out and down. Takakeisho gets his 8th with the most watched oshi-taoshi of his career. Do he choke or no choke? At 22 probably nope.

When Tochinoshin has won in this basho he has been unremarkable (for him, I stress, many would happily trade) and his defeats have showed a brittleness in those massive legs. It was there on day one, a little bounce after it was over to will some life into them. The kind of testing you do when you have injuries instead of wins on your mind.

Where do I send my official complaint regarding Tochinoshin? Dear Sir, he is not kicking sufficient ass.

Well, four hopefuls fell off the most pointless leader-board of the decade. We have one at 8-1, four at 7-2 and five of them at 6-3. It's not very likely Takakeisho can avoid a couple of defeats coming his way soon. And so it's becoming increasingly possible we will get to see a Juryo style 11-4 play-off with the straws brought out. Then it's dog eat dog with all bets off.

I can't think of a better ending to this basho.

Day 8 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
Quick, how many yusho wins are there among the wrestlers left in the basho? The answer is four, and they are all by different wrestlers: Kotoshogiku, Goeido, Tochinoshin, and Mitakeumi. So we are either going to have something unprecedented, or barely precedented (all four former champs are either 3-4 or 4-3) when the yusho race dust settles. That has leant interest to this chaos basho thus far, though it is odd to have underwhelming Ozeki finish the day. The other day I was watching and I sat here waiting for the next bout after Takayasu's match for a few moments and wondered why the people were all filing out. It took me a moment to realize the day was over.

But I must admit I am enjoying it. This continues to be an awkward transition year, away from the old guard of Hakuho and Kakuryu and Kisenosato and toward the like to a new guard of the likes of Mitakeumi and Takakeisho and, for a time, a bit of Tochinoshin. We've been expecting this to happen for a long time, so we should try to enjoy the odd and bumpy ride.

On Nakabi (the middle day), things are always still taking shape and a tournament is in the most mosey stage of its moseying. Let's check how they moseyed today.

J3 Kotoyuki (4-3) vs. M14 Daishomaru (4-3)
Daishomaru got jammed in the face at the tachi-ai but managed to get out of there good and far to his left. Unfortunately for him, he looked a little discombobulated and was slow to react and capitalize when Kotoyuki barreled past. As a result, Little Snow (Kotoyuki) turned to Daishomaru and gave him another nodowa neck pinching or two and drove him out, out, out, oshi-dashi.

M13 Onosho (6-1) vs. M15 Meisei (4-3)
It took two tournaments longer than I expected, but we finally seem to have pretty-good-wrestler Onosho back with us. Don't worry, he's not winning the tournament. Meisei helped make sure of that, grabbing Onosho by the belt inside on the left and outside on the right and waddling him forcefully out yori-kiri, an unexpected display of power from this tiny pint-package.

M16 Arawashi (1-6) vs. M13 Takanosho (1-6)
A useless bout. Arawashi put a hand on Takanosho's face, then looked to push him with his chest, but instead dove/fell/slipped to the clay while puzzlingly clutching at Takanosho's sagari, like a mystic trying to gather in a fistful of cloud. Oh, you could say that Takanosho darted out to the right and pushed him down as per the official kimari-te of tsuki-dashi, but that is not what I saw.

M12 Aoiyama (5-2) vs. M15 Daiamami (4-3)
What was it, "Aoiyama has learned what can he happen if he just walks forward?" Yes. He had the clobber-hammers out in this one, and clearly had the upper hand on Daiamami, whapping in the face, bashing with the forearm. But he also then started walking backwards instead of forwards. I thought, hoo boy. Fortunately for him he was walking nice and slowly, and kept up the barrage of arm meat. The withering attack allowed him to fall into a both-arms-inside moro-zashi grip around Daiamami's body, and there was no way Daiamami was going to get out of that. You're supposed to pinch down on the arms and smother the guy if you get into this pickle, but the idea of "pinching down and smothering" Aoiyama's arms is ridiculous. Aoiyama soon had Daiamami at the tawara and punched him out with a cool surge of his chest: a thrust of chest-meat. Yori-kiri. I haven't had this much fun with Blue Mountain (Aoiyama) in a long time.

M16 Chiyomaru (2-5) vs. M12 Endo (4-3)
Chiyomaru backed away from the tachi-ai like he was saying "wait, I want to go look at myself in the back of a spoon again." Endo did not give him time for that, burrowing in repeatedly for grip on the sides and front of Chiyomaru's belt and around his body, changing it up as needed. Chiyomaru was never anything but a mess in this one, and Endo made quick yori-kiri work of him.

M14 Chiyoshoma (3-4) vs. M10 Yutakayama (2-5)
Chiyoshoma's attack was kinetic and vicious, and quickly overwhelmed Yutakayama, whose befuddled tournament continues. The difference in the yori-taoshi thrashing was that Yutakayama was concentrating on pushing on Chiyoshoma's face, while Chiyoshoma was concentrating lower down on Yutakayama's chest. Pretty soon Chiyoshoma was the third winner in a row to have both arms inside around the body, moro-zashi, and he used it to bully Yutakayama bodily over backwards in thorough destruction.

M9 Kotoshogiku (3-4) vs. M11 Chiyonokuni (2-5)
Kotoshogiku looked to crush Chiyonokuni like a grape, crashing his weight forward and down onto him at the tachi-ai and summarily driving him to the tawara like a soft pile of manure hit by a bulldozer travelling at 60 miles per hour. However, Kotoshogiku's gaburi ability has weakened a bit, and when it came time to use it at the edge he couldn't get Chiyonkuni--who had slipped both arms inside (fourth match in a row with that)--over the straw. Chiyonokuni survived, drove Kotoshogiku back in the other direction, and had the tables pretty well turned. After that the match fizzled, as Chiyonokuni did not want to win. There was a little letting go from Chiyonokuni followed by a lot of letting up, and Kotoshogiku drove the see-saw match all the way back across and got the lame and gentle yori-kiri victory as Chiyonokuni daintily stepped out. Well, it started well.

M11 Okinoumi (4-3) vs. M9 Daieisho (6-1)
Okinoumi imitated an amorphous blob, absorbing Daieisho's high thrusts and sucking him in against him. Daieisho's limbs poked out like a lobster getting eaten by a giant clam. Yori-kiri.

M7 Abi (5-2) vs. M10 Sadanoumi (4-3)
Lots of whirlwind tsuppari here, then Abi stepped out of there and pulled and pawed down, and Sadanoumi flew through the air and flopped to the ground, hataki-komi. I accidentally fast-forwarded through this and there was a lovely trippy moment where Sadanoumi was suspended in the air like a guy levitating while lying on his face. Like Clark Kent in the sky. I fast-forwarded in reverse and he did it again in the opposite direction. Woooo!

M6 Takanoiwa (2-5) vs. M7 Shohozan (3-4)
After a brief flurry of tsuppari, Darth Hozan grabbed hold of Takanoiwa's left arm, slung him around, and forced him out, kote-nage.

One of these days I'm going to do a report where I do describe each match in just one line. I've almost gotten there twice today!

M8 Takarafuji (2-5) vs. M6 Kagayaki (3-4)
Nice hard-hitting tachi-ai. Takarafuji used it to stand Kagayaki up, fish until he could get his right arm overhand on the belt, then used that to drive the match according to his own dictates, finishing Kagayaki off with an oshi-dashi push-out.

M8 Ikioi (3-4) vs. M5 Asanoyama (3-4)
Ikioi surged in nicely and got a good arm inside around the body. However, Asanoyama, who continues to be quietly competent despite the lackluster record this tournament, got a left overhand on the belt and used it to turn the match all the way around 180 degrees, finally tossing Ikioi over the straw with help from his lower half: bumping him out from behind with a thigh-to-rump blow. Cool.

M3 Nishikigi (2-5) vs. M5 Chiyotairyu (5-2)
Well, this watching-Nishikigi-get-destroyed thing has been as fun as I expected, but in a different way. About half the time he's plain gotten destroyed. But about half the time he's held his own, too, so he's gained some respect up here. Does he belong up here? No. But if he can learn some lessons from this, maybe eventually he will. I expected him to henka here; he didn't. Then, when Chiyotairyu went with a blasting tachi-ai, I expected Nishikigi to disintegrate. He didn't. When Chiyotairyu found his opponent had withstood the first charge, he started to go for the pull. Mistake. This allowed Nishikigi to get his bearings, step to the side, wrap Chiyotairyu's left arm up good, and sling Chiyotairyu down near the edge, kote-nage. This was badly played by Chiyotairyu, but Nishikigi could have crumbled or missed his chance to take advantage. He did neither, and picked up a nice win.

M2 Tochiohzan (5-2) vs. M2 Tamawashi (4-3)
I'm not impressed by Tochiohzan's comeback tournament; I don't see much substance in it. Like here. Tamawashi just put his head down and waited to be pulled to the ground. It took almost a full revolution around the dohyo, Tochiohzan retreating and Tamawashi following, eyes on the ground, a cow being led to slaughter. You could see the fall coming from a mile, and Tamawashi put extra mustard on the felling by stepping out and rolling off the dohyo sideways as well on the kata-sukashi slap down. Next!

K Takakeisho (6-1) vs. M1 Myogiryu (4-3)
As you know, with Takakeisho I'm mostly buying what they're selling. He's young, calm, and he hits hard. He has a definable style. He's aggressive without over-committing or being wild. This is his tournament to win. Where he goes from there I'm less sure, and maybe I'm guilty of always buying the flavor of the month, but he feels more solid than Mitakeumi to me. As for the match, it wasn't much of a thing. A bit of tachi-ai face-to-face contact as set-up, then Takakeisho jumped out of there, rounded on Myogiryu's ass, and finished him off, hiki-otoshi. The train pulls in safe at another station; how many stops are there on its journey?

M1 Hokutofuji (4-3) vs. K Kaisei (2-5)
These two had a cool mirror-image false start where they both stepped to the left like a dual henka in order to avoid hitting each other, then bowed in synch to the head shimpan like synchronized swimming. Hokutofuji employed the same line in the real match, shading out to his left while stretching out his arms and getting low. This gave him controlling position, and he followed it up with a nodo-wa neck-push that finished Kaisei off good, oshi-dashi.

S Mitakeumi (4-3) vs. S Ichinojo (2-5)
I figured that in yet another Jar-Jar Binks tournament for Ichinojo ("me give up"), this one was an easy bet on Mitakeumi. Very frustrating. Sadly, I was right. Ichinojo stood there and leaned forward and let Mitakeumi plough him out, oshi-dashi. Mitakeumi didn't do anything wrong, staying low and tight and moving forward solidly, but Ichinojo didn't do anything at all. He looked dispirited. Wouldn't you be? Me give up.

O Goeido (4-3) s. M4 Yoshikaze (4-3)
Sigh. What is Yoshikaze doing here? Goeido slapped him in the forehead, evaded the rest of the tachi-ai while pulling on his head, and let Yoshikaze run past him and out, hataki-komi. Mike is likely right that the yusho line will fall to at least three losses, which leaves us with the spectre that Goeido is still kind of in this one. With sumo like this. Whelp, if that's what it take to beat Yoshikaze here, then that is what it takes. Goeido. This would be a good time to fish out the old Kintamayama video of some gangster kingpin laughing while subtitles in fake text talked about arranging Goeido's yusho. I tried to look it up for you, but I couldn't find it. If you have it, put a link in the comments.

M3 Ryuden (2-5) vs. O Tochinoshin (3-4)
And what is Ryuden doing here? Ooh, the day 8 end-of-the-day heavyweights. Well, I shouldn't be so cynical; I like Ryuden, and he held his own here in a good match. Tochinoshin blasted up at him on the tachi-ai, then, after a foolish pull, Tochinoshin used his right forearm to bar Ryuden off while pulling up with his left hand on the right arm. The problem was this didn't give Tochinoshin much leverage. No matter. Eventually he did something I'm not sure I've seen before: got both of his hands around Ryuden's left wrist. Ryuden's arm had been neutralized in there for some time by the forearm, so Tochinoshin finally grabbed it, both from underneath on the right and from over on the left. Looked odd, but it gave Tochinoshin the leverage to bear down on Ryuden and begin to drive him back, Ryuden's forearm now a fulcrum of control. Starting to crumple, Ryuden tried to maki-kae out of this, resulting in dual inside-outside belt grips for the two men, which of course spelled doom even more certain for Ryuden, as a contest of strength on matched belt grips is Tochinoshin's forte. And out Ryuden went, yori-kiri. I'm mildly curious whether Tochinoshin ends up kadoban or not, but more so I'm miffed at him (and whoever else was or was not involved) for not being in the yusho race. If he goes kadoban, that would be a just punishment.

M4 Shodai (4-3) vs. O Takayasu (5-2)
Takayasu employed a mix of throat-chokes, tsuppari to the face, and thrusts to the belly and chest to quickly drive Shodai to a decisive oshi-dashi defeat. Though Vanilla Softcream (Shodai) is not much of a thing, Takayasu looked dominant here. We need more of this from him; if we can get it, I'll excuse seeing him in the final slot of the day. If we can't, I'd rather see Takakeisho here.

Tomorrow Gary calls forth a swarm of sumo pixies from the beya-woods with his teppo-pole-sliver magic wand.

Day 7 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
The day 7 broadcast began with a trip down memory lane where NHK showed highlights from a handful of Ozeki crowned during the Heisei era (since 1989). First up on the list was Kirishima, and then they featured guys like Dejima, Miyabiyama, Musoyama, and Kaio. It was actually quite refreshing to see Japanese Ozeki look like real Japanese Ozeki and take the beating stick to their opponents, but to contrast the achievements of those Ozeki to the current Japanese Ozeki today would be a fruitless task. The reality is that there is no comparison, and if you focus solely on the content of the sumo, the huge divide between the Japanese "elite" now and the great ones from yesteryear is wider than Chiyomaru's neckline. And that's saying something.

As we head into the weekend, this basho sure feels like we're watching the Juryo division. There's no continuity anywhere, and there are no rikishi who can act as pillars and set the baseline for everyone else. Takakeisho has been getting hyped for his 6-0 start, but that has just been a house of cards low-lighted by obvious dives from Ichinojo and Kaisei on consecutive days. You can just tell when a guy is really hot, and while Takakeisho does deserve some of the credit for his start, don't be shocked if there's a three bout losing streak somehow down the road.

The day began with M15 Meisei welcoming Juryo rikishi Daishoho, and the two hooked up in migi-yotsu where the longer, taller Daishoho grabbed the left outer grip, and there was nothing Meisei could do to stop it as the Juryo rikishi scored the linear force-out win. Kinda nice to see that kind of sumo as both dudes end the day at 4-3.

M16 Chiyomaru and M13 Takanosho also hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai, and Maru briefly flirted with a left outer grip, but his shelf gut got in the way, and so he abandoned that potentially insurmountable position and decided to back up, move left, and go for the pull. Because Takanosho was beaten the first few seconds of the bout, he didn't have enough momentum to make Chiyomaru pay for the pull, and the result was Maru skipping around the full perimeter of the ring and felling Takanosho near the edge. Chiyomaru ekes to just 2-5 with the win while Takanosho falls to 1-6.

M13 Onosho smelled blood against M16 Arawashi firing a right hand into the Mongolian's throat and driving with that lower body sending Arawashi back and across without argument. Arawashi, who fell to 1-6, is obviously gimpy, but when you smell blood, you gotta go for it. Well done for Onosho who moves to 6-1.

M14 Chiyoshoma crushed M12 Endoh back from the tachi-ai with a left paw to the throat before going for a quick slap that sent Endoh stumbling forward and completely vulnerable. Instead of kicking the dude while he was down, Chiyoshoma whiffed on a right roundhouse that barely glanced off the top of Endoh's dome before the Mongolian just backed up to the tawara inviting Endoh to come'n get him. Endoh stretched his right arm forward, and Chiyoshoma easily lifted it upright, but to do that you see takes so much effort that Chiyoshoma no longer had the strength to do anything...except flop forward and down in probably the worst sell we've seen this basho. Even the sheep in attendance weren't fooled by this as Endoh moves to 4-3 while Chiyoshoma literally falls to 3-4.

M11 Okinoumi and M15 Daiamami probably set the record for most maki-kae at the start of their bout. Okinoumi had both arms close to the inside, but Daiamami was like a big windmill sweeping Okinoumi's arms back to the outside. After five or six seconds, Daiamami was able to burrow in close and threaten moro-zashi as both rikishi gathered their wits, but Okinoumi finally got that left arm to the isnide, and as Daiamami tried to squirt away near the edge, he only put himself closer to the straw, and Okinoumi easily forced him across from there leaving both rikishi at 4-3.

M14 Daishomaru failed to put both fists down at the tachi-ai (what's new right?), but M11 Chiyonokuni charged anyway catching Daishomaru square in the nose. They called the false start, but as the two reloaded, the blood snot really started dripping, and so they made both rikishi go back to their corners so they could stuff a tissue into Daishomaru's left nostril.

With the nostril fully loaded, Daishomaru's left arm was barely past his knee  when they charged the second go-around, but they didn't call this one back. Why bother, though? This one was bought and paid for, so Chiyonokuni let Daishomaru gain moro-zashi before backing up in kind as Daishomaru followed along. You could see from the replay that Daishomaru wanted no contact the second time through, and how can you blame him because it sounds as if the dude's got a broken nose.  Fortunately for him, the bout was pre-arranged, so it didn't matter here, but we'll see if he can fight the rest of the way.  Daishomaru moves to 4-3 while Chiyonokuni falls to 2-5.

M12 Aoiyama lowered his head at the tachi-ai against M10 Sadanoumi leading with his tsuppari attack, but after a few seconds, he switched gears into pull mode, but there wasn't much to pull. That allowed Sadanoumi to move towards the inside, but Aoiyama latched onto his right arm in a left kote grip and wickedly wrenched Sadanoumi over...but not quite out. As Sadanoumi persisted refusing to go down, Aoiyama finally offered two hams to the chest knocking Sadanoumi down hard oshi-taoshi style. Aoiyama quietly moves to 5-2 with the win while Sadanoumi falls to 4-3.

M10 Yutakayama greeted M9 Kotoshogiku with a right kachi-age followed by a choke hold with the same arm, and with Yutakayama keeping separation, you knew his intent was to win. If you want to throw a bout to the Geeku, just give him his favored hidari-yotsu position and go along for the ride, but Yutakayama kept Kotoshogiku upright with alternating choke holds before dashing to his left and pulling Kotoshogiku forward and down as Kotoshogiku tried to lean back into the bout. Good work from Yutakayama who needed this one as he moves to just 2-5 while Kotoshogiku falls to 3-4.

M7 Abi came with his usual tsuppari that were way too high against M9 Daieisho, and so Daieisho shoved Abi's left arm away sending Abi into pull mode, and from there, Daieisho just pounced forward sending Abi back and across the dohyo in wham bam thank you ma'am fashion. Look at Daieisho checking in at 6-1 while Abi falls to 5-2.

It was strange to see M8 Ikioi and M6 Kagayaki focus so much on yotsu-zumo because these are two tsuppari guys, but migi-yotsu it was until Ikioi just decided to back up, keep his arms out wide, and just stay square as Kagayaki forced him back and out. This was an obvious fixed bout as Ikioi showed no effort to win or even counter. Both rikishi end the day at 3-4.

Speaking of fixed bouts, M6 Takanoiwa placed a left stiff arm into M8 Takarafuji's neck (yes, he was able to locate the neck!), and then as Takarafuji persisted, Takanoiwa relented and moved right going for as silly of a right tsuki as you please, and with Takanoiwa having backed himself all the way to the straw standing straight up in the process, the final push from Takarafuji was just a spot on a match. Both rikishi end the day at 2-5 and don't even need to shower after this one.

The fishy sumo would continue as M7 Shohozan knocked M5 Asanoyama upright with two hands to the neck before securing moro-zashi...which he promptly abandoned no thanks to anything that Asanoyama did. Asanoyama still had his back to the straw as he offered a weak push at the back of Shohozan's right shoulder, but the move curiously sent Shohozan to the edge now with his back to the wall. As Asanoyama rushed forward, Shohozan got moro-zashi again, but instead of trying to slip laterally and counter, he just arched his back and let Asanoyama knock him off the dohyo.

M3 Nishikigi stood his ground extremely well as M2 Tamawashi looked to take over with his tsuppari attack, but The Mawashi wasn't able to bully Nishikigi back. The problem for Nishikigi, though, was he had no answer offensively, and so the best he could do was swipe at Tamawashi's arms. Still, Tamawashi was frustrated and resorted to pull sumo, and as he did so, Nishikigi gave chase but wasn't able to score, and so Tamawashi did a little dipsy doo move along the tawara that set up a really nice left tsuki into Nishikigi's right side that sent him packing. That final shove was the best shot Tamawashi (4-3) got all bout, so credit Nishikigi for hanging touch as he falls to 2-5.

The one rikishi being hyped whose quick start has actually been organic is M2 Tochiohzan, and he faced M1 Hokutofuji today, who moved left at the tachi-ai as usual firing a tsuki into Tochiohzan's side, and that move really bothered the former Sekiwake because instead of squaring back up and looking for a pathway to the inside, Tochiohzan was looking to set up a pull instead. The problem was that Hokutofuji's momentum hadn't been halted by anything Oh had done, and so when that first pull came, Hokutofuji pounced and had Tochiohzan pushed out in short order. Tochiohzan now falls to 5-2 with the loss while Hokutofuji improves to 4-3.

M1 Myogiryu and Komusubi Kaisei hooked up in migi-yotsu from the tachi-ai before Myogiryu quickly realized his mistake in going chest to chest against a beheamoth like Kaisei. Myogiryu tried to back out of the move skirting to his left, but Kaisei was onto him like stink to bait managing to get that right arm back to the inside and this time grabbing a left outer grip. Myogiryu tried to mawari-komu to his left, but he was sucked into Kaisei's tractor beam, and he didn't even bother countering at the end. Nice win for Kaisei who moves to 2-5 while Myogiryu falls to 4-3.

I loved it that M5 Chiyotairyu charged straight forward into Sekiwake Ichinojo firing away at the Mongolith's chest, but Ichinojo proved to be a brick wall easily standing his ground, and after gaining his wits, he returned tsuppari fire back Chiyotairyu's way knocking the M5 back methodically to the edge where a final shove sent him packing. Wow, I can't remember the last time I saw Ichinojo fire tsuppari, but he was spot on today, and just think how dangerous this guy would be if they actually unleashed him. Sheesh. Ichinojo ekes to 2-5, and that record is probably the biggest joke of the basho while Chiyotairyu falls to 5-2.

The matchup of the day was Sekiwake Mitakeumi vs. Komusubi Takakeisho, and we'll usually get a straight up fight between these two. Mitakeumi opted to come out with tsuppari resulting in a pretty good tachi-ai where the Sekiwake drove Takakeisho back to the edge quickly. Takakeisho darted left throwing yet another one of those left roundhouse slaps to the back of Mitakeumi's right shoulder that "felled" both Kaisei and Ichinojo. Mitakeumi was thrown off balance, but he survived quite easily and was able to square back up with the Komusubi. In the second go around, neither rikishi wanted to attack forward, and while they were throwing arms forward, both were looking for the pull. After a few phantom swipes downward from Takakeisho, Mitakeumi moved left and slapped Takakeisho down with a nice right hand to the back of the head. They called a mono-ii to confirm that Mitakeumi didn't pull any hair, and replays showed that he didn't so gunbai to Mitakeumi for a very nice win.

The thing that bugs me so much is that this was a very good bout of sumo from both parties, and I really enjoyed the bout. The one negative aspect is that neither guy trusted his forward attack after the initial volley that created separation, but it was an entertaining bout. If sumo could just trust itself and let everyone fight at full strength, we'd see a lot more genuinely good bouts of sumo from these two. As it stands, Mitakeumi moves to 4-3 while Takakeisho suffers his first loss at 6-1.

Moving along to the Ozeki ranks, Tochinoshin's bad acting continues, and today's benefactor was M4 Yoshikaze. The two quickly hooked up in migi-yotsu with Tochinoshin having the easy path the right outer grip. He opted not to take it instead putting his arm over the top of Yoshikaze's left shoulder, and as the two stayed snug in the center of the ring, Tochinoshin led the dance by faking a kote-nage with that right arm. Yoshikaze actually had his left hand gripping Tochinoshin's belt, and but upon feeling the throw from Shin, he responded with a left scoop throw position creating the semblance of a nage-no-uchi-ai in the center of the ring, but Tochinoshin just put his left fist down fast as his right hand conveniently slipped off his kote grip giving Yoshikaze the fake scoop throw win. This one was so obvious as Tochinoshin continues to play the part of "struggling" Ozeki in the same manner that Hakuho and Kakuryu always go kyujo to cover for Kisenosato. The final tally at the end of this one saw Tochinoshin fall to 3-4 (as if!) while Yoshikaze moves to 4-3.

Ozeki Takayasu came with a failed right kachi-age against M3 Ryuden. Failed because it had no effect against his opponent, and it allowed Ryuden to sneak is right arm to the inside and grab a firm left outer grip from such an angle that Takayasu's left inner was largely rendered useless. From this point, both rikishi dug in, and when I say dug in, I mean they dug in to the tune of a bout that lasted nearly two minutes (the official time was 1:59). During that span, nobody really did anything as Ryuden was content to maintain that advantageous position. In the end, Ryuden was able to lead with that right outer grip and force the Ozeki back across the straw with little argument. The loss drops Takayasu to 5-2 now while Ryuden improves to just 2-5.

In the day's final affair, Ozeki Goeido struck M4 Shodai nicely ultimately getting his right arm to the inside, and while Shodai briefly had a left outer grip, Goeido's initial momentum gained from the tachi-ai enabled him to drive Shodai back and off of the grip, and from there it was all Ozeki as Goeido was able to rush Shodai back and across before the latter could put together a counter kote-nage throw. I realize that Shodai ain't the most formidable opponent, but this was good stuff from Goeido who moves to 4-3 with the win. Shodai falls to the same mark.

And that's a wrap on the day where seven of the last eight bouts were actually legit putting me in a pretty good mood. That Tochinoshin act was bad, but hey, all take 7 out of 8 the last 40 minutes of the broadcast.

It's still way early in my opinion to start talking yusho race, so we'll turn it back over to Harvye tomorrow.

Day 6 Comments (Gary Jones reporting)
Hello to all, Gary the gap-filler here. A truly excellent daily sumo report awaits you, full of insight, intrigue and philosophical musings. All this just 24 hours away, until then you're stuck with me.  Call me a Sumotalk heretic but I promise not to use the dreaded “Y word”.  Although quite how I'm going to describe Hakuho's rank I don't know.

If you will please indulge me I would like to make an observation about a rikishi not competing today simply because if I don't do it now I may never get another chance. You know who mean.

Kisenosato's bout against Tochiohzan laid bare his current abilities. Both men were determined to get the win and the bout played to both their strengths. This is as good a bout as we could ask for to truly see the man as he is now. Kise used the best attribute he's had all career long, his hips. Keeping low and wide he doesn't lead with his shoulders or head as so many others do and he positioned his feet as though he had a gyroscope inserted at high school (science geeks can still be bullies you know).

Tochiohzan is a seasoned veteran finding great form after some lost years. He got a piece of what he has needed career long too, at least one arm stuffed deep inside. The bout was very close and that's the point. Kisenosato is competing at the level of a Tochiohzan with one arm in position but not full moro-zashi. Oh dear.

Kisenosato has now set multiple records for failure, nothing to see here, but it will make the next basho fun, won't it?

Daiamami (M15) 4-1 vs. Aminishiki (J2) 2-3
Proving that you just can't keep a good man down (in Juryo) Aminishiki stepped up to tackle a man who was a dimple cheeked seven year old when the old warhorse made his top division debut. Of course back then Ami would have easily kicked his tiny backside.

Today Aminishiki took 12 seconds and finished with a spectacular ami-uchi throw. Sort of. Daiamami simply failed to get in close to the old guy, failed to get a single grip and failed to stay upright as he headed for the exit. None of which was forced on him by Aminishiki.

Chiyoshoma (M14) 3-2 vs. Meisei (M15) 3-2
Chiyoshoma must be the most undisciplined, don't-give-a-damn rikishi in Makuuchi, he actually went up on his tippy-toes to grab the cheap uwate. Easy meat for meaty Meisei. One 90 degree turn and one yori-kiri delivered free of charge.

Arawashi (M16) 0-5 vs. Daishomaru (M14) 3-2
Day 6 and Arawashi wins his first bout to deafening, err polite applause. He delivered a fake kachi-age to the shoulder and slipped the arm around Daishomaru's head for a blitzkrieg hataki-komi. He also swung the already doomed Maru onto his back because he can be a mean son of a peach when he want to be.

Onosho (M13) 4-1 vs. Chiyomaru (M16) 1-4
Onosho didn't wait to see if Chiyomaru could turn his basho around; he just stepped right in to compare teats and took an ugly moro-zashi. Chiyo did try to gain separation with a strong thrust to the head but it was all over as soon as Onosho drove forward and oshi-dashi'ed 400 plus pounds of manliness onto a terrified pensioner. This is why they have defibrillators at the arena.

Aoiyama (M12) 3-2 vs. Takanosho (M13) 1-4
Takanosho must have wished he got this match at the start before Aoiyama realised he just needed to walk forward to have his opponents in all kinds of trouble. Takanosho tried his best to work his way inside and did start to press forward but a couple of decent neck thrusts at the beginning and a palm to the side of the head took away his balance. They called it a hiki-otoshi for the record books but it was Takanosho's eagerness to run at a mountain that was his undoing.

That's 4 wins in row now. The moose sized one is still on shaky legs and isn't about to set his sights on any over-sized cup but at M12 he's doing exactly what he should do and seems relaxed doing it too.

Chiyonokuni (M11) 1-4 vs. Endo (M12) 3-2
When these two get someone their own size it can lead to pretty good sumo. Endo has the advantage at the belt so Chiyonokuni decided to get his oshi on. He caught Endo with a nice fat nodowa and got full arm extension on it. Endo tried to get in low and grab a worryingly intimate mae-mitsu grip ripping out the sagari and possibly some hairs but he ran onto another strong throat thrust. A slight hataki-komi attempt turned Endo so much he was toast, although he did look like he was trying to punch Chiyonokuni in the nuts as a last goodbye.

Fun stuff and with it Chiyonokuni picks up his 400th career win by okuri-dashi.

Sadanoumi (M10) 3-2 vs. Okinoumi (M11) 3-2
Not much to this one, the tall Okinoumi put his arms out wide as he so often does and Sadanoumi took his reward of deep moro-zashi and a nice quick force out. Okinoumi did try to get his left inside and when that failed he tested a throw with his right but Sadanoumi was already planning his awesome strut across a victorious dohyo.

Ikioi (M8) 2-3 vs. Yutakayama (M10) 1-4
Ikioi had a revelation before his day 4 bout against Takanoiwa. The sumo gods gently moved in close and in his ear bellowed “You're going to go 3-12 again dumb-ass! Stop pushing in a straight line, it's not practice anymore.” And lo he started winning.

Ikioi got his snarl on today, he first blocked and then hammered through the nodowa coming his way. He thought about the mae-mitsu on offer but that wouldn't be grunt-tastic enough. Not much more Yutakayama could do to keep the nasty man away. The dudes over 6 feet 4, when he comes at you like that it must be brown silk time. Technically a win by oshi-dashi because intimidation isn't a kimari-te.

Daieisho (M9) 4-1 vs. Takarafuji (M8) 1-4
Captain passive lost again. He's not offering much to his opponents this tournament with his patented stand up and see tachi-ai. I have a hard time picturing him in Juryo but that is the course he is on with one kachi-koshi this year and he's never been the type to gambarize and do the spectacular thang. Daieisho picks up a quiet hataki-komi win to sit very comfortably with 5 wins already under his nice red belt.

Kotoshogiku (M9) 3-2 vs. Shohozan (M7) 2-3
The two veterans really earned their salary here, firing up the crowd as the local boys put on a show. Shohozan got there first with a full-bodied moro-te which he used to get a left hand inside. It seemed as though he would put the Geeku away right there and the Fukuoka faithful screamed the loudest of the day but he didn't have a hold on the mawashi so nope. Once Koto was moving back to the centre he gets his grip. Kotoshogiku turns him and gives a little gappuri at the tawara, 3 old ladies fainted. They tussle some more and Sho drives his boy all the way across the ring but Koto puts the brakes on, the hospital is put on alert.

They caught their breath for about an hour until Sho find himself lined up for the kill again and again he survives, Miyabiyama's luxuriant hair falls out from the drama unfolding before him. Finally the Geeku was flung over from exhaustion and a uwate-hineri at 1 min 28 seconds, saving many lives. What a performance!

Chiyotairyu (M5) 4-1 vs. Takanoiwa (M6) 2-3
How could these two possibly follow that? Takanoiwa tried to play the part of Shohozan and led with moro-te but Chiyotairyu hadn't read the script and like an annoyed moose that's just been shot by a BB gun bullied him straight out, no messing about. That's a 5-1 rikishi folks.

Chiyotairyu is enjoying himself in the safest M5 slot of all time, he should still get spanked by what's left of the top guys. I think he will still be smiling, just a little sore. It's good to see Takanoiwa's lethal skull fracture has cleared up though.

Abi (M7) 4-1 vs. Asanoyama (M5) 2-3
I'm liking Asanoyama to one day become Ozeki but every time Abi starts a potential slap-fest he morphs into a young Terao and I demand blood.

For the third straight time we have a moro-te-zuki, from Abi of course. I think he might have stuck a thumb into the windpipe just before poor Asa crumbled to the ground. Abi give him the full treatment and I'm transported back to the 80's. I just need one tsuppari rikishi, just one.

Kagayaki (M6) 2-3 vs. Yoshikaze (M4) 2-3
Compared to how he used to be, Yoshikaze is permanently in slow motion. Kagayaki came down to the level of his opponent and waded through cold molasses. Perhaps he though he could control the little slugger, many have tried. He might have thought his bigger body would win it in the end. He started well enough applying a right hazu-oshi to move Yoshi back then a left nodowa to get his head up.

Then it all went wrong as Yoshikaze stuck his head down on that mesmerizing chest, grabbed him by the back of the neck and tried to tip the boy over the tawara. When that didn't work he went straight to moro-zashi and drove hard across the ring hooking the back of a knee to take away any play from the bigger, younger, stronger but less experienced man. At the end Kagayaki tomb-stoned Yoshikaze's head into the concrete but that's not enough to stop this guy. A win by the rare bird of watashi-komi.

Tochiohzan (M2) 5-0 vs. Nishikigi (M3) 1-4
From Yokozuna destruction to Nishikigi. Wouldn't it be funny if Nishikigi bullied Tochi clear off the dohyo? Actually no, no it wouldn't. Better for Kisenosato if Tochiohzan won the yusho. Better for sumo if somebody gets supercharged. But then there's the “choke factor” which is what I'm attributing this debacle from Tochiohzan to.

He tried to get moro-zashi he really did. He just tried it naked, no distractions, no set up, just put 'em in there. Nishikigi and the entire sumo world (remember that mag? Clyde San you still owe me money.) knew it was coming. One very nice kime-dashi later and all the pressure of being undefeated has gone. Do you feel better now Tochiohzan?

Takakeisho (K) 5-0 vs. Kaisei (K) 1-2-2
Ha, ha, ha, ha, oh my, ha, ha, ha, no but seriously, ha, ha, ha. I'm sorry but why did this have to happen on my first day? A jab to the neck followed by the most feared left hook in sumo and down goes the 6 foot 5 Kaisei.

This is the sort of performance sumo fans mean when we talk about a chaotic basho. That special time when the real winners are out of it and the ignored second tier also-rans think they can shine. You know, like Goeido.  Takakeisho is the king baby. Hail to the king!

Mitakeumi (S) 2-3 vs. Hokutofuji (M1) 3-2
And I'm back. Apologies all round but I lost control of my bladder last bout. Ahem.
This was the bout I was most looking forward to today. I like the genki types in sumo and more often than not Mitakeumi tries fairly hard, so I fairly like him. But every 3 or 4 basho Hokutofuji is an animal.

A thunderous tachi-ai and it was on. A couple of thrusts to decide who was going to give ground and Mitakeumi placed the paw to the pec and found the golden angle. His elbow down by his belly, the entire force of his legs transfered through. Unstoppable. He may never be as good again.  Tomorrow he gets in there with Takakeisho, chaos indeed.

Myogiryu (M1) 3-2 vs. Ichinojo (S) 1-4
Myogiryu is a viable threat to sumo's most enthusiastic eater. Speed kills the warning signs say. The key for Myogiryu is just to keep hustling. He stuck his head in, he pushed at the throat, he pushed inside, he stiff armed Ichi's neck, he slipped into belt-less moro-zashi and then he took a grip and surged again. Yori-kiri.

Ichinojo was fire fighting all the way through but every time he dealt with one blaze Myogiryu just started another. That's no way to win but how is the slowest man in the division supposed to cope at 500 pounds? When he gets a bout playing to his (extreme) strengths he can be spectacular, but if it goes to his (extreme) weaknesses he's done.

Tamawashi (M2) 3-2 vs. Takayasu (O) 4-1
Bouts between these two big boys are slowly turning into a classic head to head rivalry as they came into the day all tied at ten wins a piece. True it's not likely to reach the giddy heights of Musashimaru and Takanonami but it does make me wonder about Tamawashi's rank just a tiny bit.

Takayasu started well, aggressively in fact with a kachiage that lifted Tamawashi upright and closed the distance between them. Tama tried to reverse out but he was being held in place, this bout was going to yotsu sumo. Taka's left uwate blocked Tama's right sukui-nage attempt. Tama gained some distance from the throw but Takayasu heaved him upright again and brought them back chest to chest, with Tama's back to the edge it wasn't long before the yori-kiri came.

This was as powerful and determined as I can remember Takayasu being. This was clearly one of the crunch days that will decide if he gets the big boy toy and he rose to the occasion like a rutting walrus. 5-1 and we have a front runner.

Goeido (O) 2-3 vs. Ryuden (M3) 1-4
A first time meeting in sumo used to be an exciting thing for me, who knows how things will play out when there is no form book? I'm so last century. Of course we know. Ryuden has waited too long to get to the big league to set it on fire anyway.

Goeido blasted in with his new found tachi-ai power and had the taller man back two steps in a second. Ryuden turned to the side and tested a throwing battle with a man who already had a big fistful of mawashi, you could do that if your name was Asashoryu. Goeido maneuvered his hips slightly behind and surged forward again, his knees knocking at Ryuden's lead leg denying it position. Two against one then, Ryuden went over. To celebrate his epic victory over a M3 Goeido then proceeded to mount him. Missionary style I believe.

Shodai (M4) 3-2 vs. Tochinoshin (O) 3-2
This, ladies and gentlemen is your main event. Let that echo around the arena for a while.

The bout was horrible, more a case of Tochinoshin being bad than anyone being good. He had the mae-mitsu available but didn't take it. He had the hataki-komi but his fingers slid down the face. He had his balance but then leaned too far forward. And Shodai? He survived it all.

That's 5 straight times Shodai has beaten Tochinoshin and that includes the Ozeki promotion run when Tochinoshin was hot chili sauce. I assume Shodai has the pics.

I know it sounds strange but I miss watching the greatest rikishi that ever lived.

Day 5 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
The day 5 broadcast opened with a short documentary on the history of the venues used for the Kyushu Basho. The first venue they highlighted was a sports arena built by the Kyushu Electric Company, but the arena itself wasn't taylor made for sumo. The masu-seki seats went all the way to the top of the roof leaving no room for individual seating, and then the dressing rooms were set up just outside the building and actually had dirt floors. They showed a young Chiyonofuji warming up on a dirt floor in the dressing room prior to a bout, and then they showed Kitanoumi doing part of his dohyo-iri in the old arena. It was back in 1974, and Kitanoumi had just been promoted to Yokozuna for the previous basho at the age of 21.

For some reason, the mention of his age jarred me a bit, and I realized that the days are long gone of Yokozuna being crowned in their early 20's. Kitanoumi was 21, Hakuho was 22, and Asashoryu and Takanohana were both 23. With the current circumstances in sumo, however, we're just not going to see that young Yokozuna again. I have no doubt there will be foreign rikishi who in a straight-up world could still achieve the rank in their early twenties, but I just don't see it being allowed to happen. Terunofuji was on track for such a feat, but look what they did to him. Ichinojo coulda done it as well, but that guy has redefined the term "wallowing in the mire" although not by choice.

On the Japanese side of things, sumo has become so soft and political that we're never again going to see a legitimate Yokozuna crowned in his early twenties. Part of it is that no one enters sumo any more right out of junior high school, but it's also partly due to the easy Japanese lifestyle. No one goes to bed hungry anymore, and nobody has the drive to become the type of Yokozuna that Japan enjoyed decades ago in Kitanoumi or Chiyonofuji. The problem is...Japan still needs Yokozuna to remain popular, and that's why the Sumo Association finds itself in this current mess.

The big news heading into day 5 was that Kisenosato thankfully..er..finally withdrew. He was seen throwing a dart into this big injury wheel spinning round and round in the dressing room, and the dart landed on the body part "right knee," so that was given as the reason for pulling out. The real reason was because the was flat out embarrassing himself becoming the first "Yokozuna" in over 80 years to start out a basho 0-4.

The problem is there is no end game here other than retirement. Kisenosato is not injured, and Kisenosato shouldn't even be ranked in the Makuuchi division, so to try and force feed him to us as an actual Yokozuna is nothing but a joke. All indications are that Kisenosato does not want to retire, so look for him back on the banzuke come twenty-nineteen. An article by the Mainichi newspaper at the end of day 5 caught my eye, and the very first sentence read: "Kisenosato, who escaped retirement at the Aki basho after sitting out the previous eight tournaments,..." That caught my eye because that could be the formula for this dude in the coming year or two: sit everything out and then buy yourself a kachi-koshi maybe once a year and call it good. Nobody is really calling for his retirement simply because he's Japanese, but this entire thing has been an embarrassment for sumo from the beginning.

NHK has been showing this dangerous camera angle of late, and by golly if there aren't a lot of purple seats showing up the event.



The pic above was taken just prior to the Kisenosato - Myogiryu bout on day 2, but it's been like this every day since.  I don't know how they can justify lowering those "sell out" banners everyday, but then again, I don't know how they can justify Kisenosato at the rank of Yokozuna.

That's all beyond my pay grade, so let's get to something I'm more comfortable with: the action in the ring.

M16 Chiyomaru came with a half-assed tachi-ai sorta leading with a right kachi-age , and then Maru just stood completely upright waiting for M14 Daishomaru to make a move. Said move was a weak inashi where Daishomaru moved left and slapped lightly at Chiyomaru's right shoulder, and Chiyomaru just stumbled forward to the edge and turned around just in time for Daishomaru to shove him out. This bout lacked any fighting spirit from either party, but that's what you get when bouts are arranged. Daishomaru moves to 3-2 while Chiyomaru falls to 1-4.

M14 Chiyoshoma and M16 Arawashi hooked up in hidari-yotsu where Shoma easily grabbed the right outer grip against the defenseless Arawashi. The two dug in briefly, but with Arawashi unable to make a move, Chiyoshoma gathered his wits and executed a perfect dashi-nage with that right outer wrenching Arawashi over and out. The way that you can tell that Arawashi is really injured is he doesn't have those bouts where he all of a sudden comes out and kicks someone's ass. Chiyoshoma moves to 3-2 while Arawashi falls to 0-5.

M13 Takanosho and M15 Daiamami bounced off of each other at the tachi-ai after striking hard, and then the two hooked up in migi-yotsu from there. Neither rikishi was close to an outer grip until a few seconds in when Takanosho went for a dumb pull. That momentum shift enabled Daiamami to wrangle a left outer grip and really hunker down as Takanosho tried to squirm away. These two aren't the most exciting dudes, but this was a real bout of sumo, and it showed. With Daiamami applying pressure near the edge, Takanosho dug in, but Daiamami's left outer was just too strong, and he bulled Takanosho back before throwing him down across the edge uwate-nage style. Daiamami moves to 4-1 with the win while Takanosho falls to 1-4.

M12 Endoh and M15 Meisei hooked up in hidari-yotsu with both dudes gaining right outer grips from the tachi-ai leaving them in the gappuri yotsu position, and from this point another fine bout of sumo was on. Each rikishi took their turn wrenching the other guy this way and that, but Endoh's experience proved the difference along with his belt coming loose a bit rendering Meisei's outer grip much higher than he wanted. Both rikishi end the day at 3-2.

M11 Okinoumi kept his arms wide and high allowing M13 Onosho to get inside and push, and while Okinoumi did move left to evade, he wasn't trying to counter or pull. Rather, he kept those arms up high and allowed Onosho to easily chase him half way around the ring and shove him out from there. Okinoumi was mukiryoku here giving Onosho the uncontested win. Onosho moves to 4-1 with the gift while Okinoumi quietly falls to 3-2.

M11 Chiyonokuni and M12 Aoiyama engaged in a tsuppari fest from the start with Kuni firing wild slaps and Aoiyama picking his spots and watching his opponent well. Aoiyama retreated a step in the process, and then he just raised both hands above his head waiting for Chiyonokuni to charge in. Dumbly, Kuni dove back in and Aoiyama brought those hands crashing down at the back of Chiyonokuni's head nearly felling him on the spot, and while Kuni did survive that move, he couldn't overcome Aoiyama's right inside position and left outer grip, which the Bulgarian used to easily force Chiyonokuni back and across. Aoiyama moves to 3-2 with the win while Chiyonokuni falls to 1-4.

M8 Takarafuji made no effort to establish anything to the inside against M10 Yutakayama, and so the latter just executed a methodic shove attack that sent Takarafuji evading a bit to his left and then ultimately across in a bout that lasted three or four seconds. Takarafuji was mukiryoku in this one as both rikishi end the day at 1-4.

M8 Ikioi and M10 Sadanoumi hooked up in hidari-yotsu after the tachi-ai where Ikioi briefly flirted with the right inside as well. When the straight up yotsu bout was determined, Ikioi charged hard denying Sadanoumi a right outer grip while just blasting the Kyushu rikishi back and across without argument. Ikioi moves to 2-3 while Sadanoumi falls to 3-2.

M7 Shohozan offered a quick hari-te with the right hand, but M9 Daieisho wasn't fazed by the move getting both hands up and under his foes teets driving him back with some oomph. Shohozan's only response was to go for a pull, but he was too far gone for that to take any effect. Daieisho won this one in mere seconds moving to 4-1 in the process while Shohozan falls to 2-3.

M7 Abi caught M9 Kotoshogiku with two outstretched arms at the tachi-ai keeping the Geeku far away from the inside, so when Abi retreated back and to his left in the process going for a pull, Kotoshogiku just couldn't keep up stumbling forward and down in about three seconds as Abi pushed into the back of his belt on the way down. This wasn't a great-looking win for Abi, but there was no sense in his giving Kotoshogiku a chance by allowing the bout to go to the belt. Abi moves to 4-1 while Kotoshogiku falls to 3-2.

M5 Chiyotairyu struck with both hands into M6 Kagayaki's shoulders and then immediately backed up going for his usual pull. Kagayaki bought into it hook line and sinker, and he may have been mukiryoku here. It's hard to tell when the bout doesn't even go two seconds. Chiyotairyu moves to 4-1 while Kagayaki falls to 2-3.

M6 Takanoiwa opted to fight M4 Yoshikaze with wild, slapping sumo, which is exactly the type of sumo you'd expect from Kaze. Despite numerous chances to get inside and to the belt, Takanoiwa kept exchanging slaps and threatening pulls, so much so that I thought he was going to let Yoshikaze win. After wildly brawling around the ring, Yoshikaze came away with the right arm to the inside and attempted to force Takanoiwa out, but the Mongolian slipped back and to his right executing a counter left kote-nage that easily felled Yoshikaze to the dohyo. As the announcers watched the replays, even Kirishima providing color commented how this was Yoshikaze's style of sumo, but Takanoiwa came out the victor in the end as both dudes rest at 2-3.

M5 Asanoyama was straight up mukiryoku in his contest with M4 Shodai coming with a weak right kachi-age while pulling his left arm away from an outer grip from the start. For Shodai's part, he forced the bout to migi-yotsu nicely and latched onto a left outer grip, and with his opponent defenseless, he simply drove Asanoyama back to the edge. Instead of stepping out right and countering with a right scoop throw, Asanoyama kept himself square going for a throw anyway. The result was an easy body slam for Shodai who is gifted the easy win. Shodai moves to 3-2 while Asanoyama falls to 2-3.

M1 Myogiryu forced his way into moro-zashi from the tachi-ai against M3 Ryuden and then drove Ryuden back to the straw in a flash. Ryuden thought about a right kote-nage and then a quick left tsuki-otoshi, but he was being driven back too fast to execute either counter move, and he paid for it as Myogiryu slammed him down across the straw. Myogiryu is 3-2 if you need him while Ryuden falls to 1-4.

Komusubi Takakeisho may be undefeated coming in, but he hasn't been impressing me. There's just too big of a yaocho cloud hanging around this dude, and today was another instance against Sekiwake Ichinojo. Ichinojo did his best impression of a bump on a log today, but even then, Takakeisho didn't want to get in and just drive the Mongolith straight back. Ichinojo rebuffed Takakeisho's advances at first, and then when Takakeisho tried a left swipe, Ichinojo just brushed him aside with ease using a nice right paw. Still, Ichinojo was not executing anything offensively, so when an even weaker swipe to his right shoulder came, this time Ichinojo just ran himself over the edge where Takakeisho finished him off. Takakeisho is still undefeated at 5-0 while Ichinojo graciously falls to 1-4. What a joke when you think about it. Ichinojo could have squished Takakeisho today just like grape.

Speaking of a joke, Sekiwake Mitakeumi's yusho in Nagoya has been exposed more and more as a farce these last two basho. Today against the winless and injured Komusubi Kaisei, Mitakeumi gave Kaisei his best shot pushing him back a few steps from the tachi-ai, but the Suckiwake didn't have the power to finish off his foe, and Kaisei easily got his right arm inside coupled with the left outer grip, and from there, Kaisei just marched Mitakeumi back and across the entire dohyo forcing him out with ease. Kaisei picks up his first win at 1-4 while Mitakeumi falls to 2-3.

In the Ozeki ranks, Goeido actually came in low gaining moro-zashi from the tachi-ai against M3 Nishikigi, but in true Goeido fashion, his feet were perfectly aligned, and so Nishikigi easily backed a step, planted his foot to the left, and flung Goeido over and down with a powerful right kote-nage throw. And there wasn't anything the faux-zeki could do about it. An Ozeki should never lose to a dolt like Nishikigi, especially after gaining moro-zashi from the tachi-ai, but we all know that Goeido is not an Ozeki. It was embarrassing how easy Goeido was thrown today as he falls to 2-3. As for Nishikigi, he picks up his first win at 1-4.

Ozeki Tochinoshin made no attempt to get to the inside of M1 Hokutofuji opting to keep his hands high with his left arm flirting with a pull that would never come. This allowed Hokutofuji to get completely under the Ozeki and lift him clear upright, and Tochinoshin's response was to stay completely square and still go for dumb pulls. Hokutofuji easily drove straight into Tochinoshin and had him sent back and down in a matter of seconds. Tochinoshin made no effort to win here and was mukiryoku the entire way making it look easy for Hokutofuji. As if. Tochinoshin falls to 3-2 and is simply keeping pace with the inept Japanese Ozeki. Hokutofuji moves to 3-2 with the uncontested win.

In the day's final bout, M2 Tochiohzan got his left arm inside at the tachi-ai with his right arm flirting with the inside as well, but Ozeki Takayasu did manage to at least cut that off. From this point, the announcers were like, "here comes the maki-kae, here comes the maki-kae" because Tochiohzan is a two-trick pony these days: he either gets moro-zashi and attempts the force-out, or he goes for the quick pull. The only one who didn't know what was coming was the Ozeki, and so he wasn't able to make Tochiohzan pay when he did try the maki-kae. Instead, Oh was able to move left when he failed in his maki-kae attempt, and he kept Takayasu on the run with a few potent shoves that finally set up both arms to the inside. As Oh looked to set up a throw, Takayasu maki-kae'd back with his left, but he allowed Oh to return the favor just like that, and from the moro-zashi position yet again, Oh heaved Takayasu over and out with as easy of a left scoop throw as you please. Tochiohzan moves to 5-0 with the win, and unlike Takakeisho, he is this good. As for Takayasu, he suffers his first loss at 4-1 and continues to look awful despite his win-loss records of late.

If you're scoring at home, that's three losses by all three Ozeki to hira-maku rikishi. Tochinoshin's loss was intentional, but what they're trying to pass off to us as elite rikishi these days is simply pathetic.

The final bout scheduled on the day featured Kisenosato against M2 Tamawashi, so give Tamawashi the freebie and a 3-2 record, and the image of Kisenosato that will be burned in my mind from this basho is something along the lines of this:



My impression at the end of the day is that Tochiohzan, Okinoumi, and Ikioi are still the best Japanese rikishi on the banzuke.

Yet another new contributer makes his debut tomorrow.

Day 4 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
We all sense that rikishi from Kyushu perform particularly well in the Kyushu basho. If true, there are two easy theories to explain it. The cynical view is to say hometown rikishi receive favors in order to make the crowds happy and bring in the fans--everybody makes money, everybody is happy. The blue-sky crowd has a simple explanation as well: home field advantage is a ubiquitous, recognized reality in sports, from Japan's goldrush in the Nagano Olympics to the Green Bay Packers on the frozen tundra of Lambeau blah blah blah.

But wait; we can check this out: is there really a home advantage in Kyushu? Sometimes we convince ourselves into things that aren't really happening. Here is your slate of Kyushu-born rikishi, along with their results in the top division in Tokyo/Osaka on the left vs. Fukuoka on the right:

Shodai 108-117 (.480) vs. 22-11 (.667)
Yoshikaze 457-482 (.487) vs. 81-84 (.491)
Shohozan 218-262 (.454) vs. 56-52 (.519)
Kotoshogiku 548-456 (.546) vs. 96-80 (.545)
Sadanoumi 142-153 (.481) vs. 18-30 (.375)
Daiamami 22-23 (.476) vs. 8-10 (.444)
Meisei 6-9 (.400) vs. 2-1 (.667)
Chiyomaru 92-118 (.438) vs. 16-17 (.485)

Total: 1593-1620 (.496) vs. 299-285 (.512)

The Kyushu advantage is mild, and not so suspicious--a run-of-the-mill home field take that can easily be put up to comfort, motivation, familiarity. Kotoshogiku and Yoshikaze, the guys with the most matches, even-steven. As for the guys with the next most matches, yeah, Shohozan seems to have benefitted. But Sadanoumi has been terrible. And after that we get into small sample size. In short, you can argue around and have all sorts of theories, but the overall data does not suggest anything radical. According to SB Nation, in all four major U.S. team sports home teams win at least 5% more at home than away (and as high as 10% in the NBA). In Kyushu, home island wrestlers get a little short of one extra win every two tournaments. That ain't much. I have to say I am underwhelmed.

So now we know that. Let's find out what happened in Kyushu today.

M15 Daiamami (2-1) vs. M16 Chiyomaru (1-2)
Looked like a false start by Daiamami to me; no matter, as he just kinda stood up straight, so Chiyomaru grabbed his right arm and they held onto each other nicely, big bellies pendulous and close. As it went on I realized this was indeed an advantage for Big Sweety (Daiamami): belt-fighting is manifestly not Chiyomaru's game. So Daiamami had gotten what he needed off his false start. Sure enough, Sweety started to steer his opponent around the ring on force out attempts, those bellies now pressed neatly together, and eventually Daiamami finished Chiyomaru off yori-kiri.

M16 Arawashi (0-3) vs. M15 Meisei (2-1)
Arawashi at least looked marginally more lively today: he charged in. Didn't do him any good, though: Meisei turned and threw him upside down in the air. Problem was, Meisei was also plunging head first towards the clay. Replays showed Meisei's arm touched down before any part of Arawashi did, but at that point Arawashi was unconnected to the earth, rolling through the ether, and I would have given it to Meisei, as the gyoji did. The judges conferred, and they agreed too: kote-nage victory on the sweet, committed throw by Meisei. This was good looking sumo and what a lot of people come for: bang-up throws.

M13 Onosho (2-1) vs. M14 Daishomaru (2-1)
All Onosho needed to do was to keep his focus and not fall down, and he accomplished that, thrusting and pushing manfully, moving forward little bit by little bit to score the oshi-dashi win. Daishomaru, as expected, threw a big pull into the middle of it, but Onosho was ready for it, and the space Daishomaru lost on the move ended up being the difference in the match. Memo: don't pull.

M12 Aoiyama (1-2) vs. M14 Chiyoshoma (2-1)
Aoiyama decided not to mess around in this one, thank god, and it felt like this was the best I've seen him fight in years: very little backing up, straightforward, concentrated shoves, consistent turning to keep Chiyoshoma in front of him. He also didn't try to do too much show-offy clobbering; his tighter shoves worked better than his normal wham-bam, interestingly enough. I do love that clobbering he does, though. Anyway, he soon oshi-dashi'ed the compliant Chiyoshoma out; Chiyoshoma's effort was poor, but Aoiyama know how to take advantage and look good doing it.

M13 Takanosho (1-2) vs. M12 Endo (1-2)
Yawn. Is Takanosho enough of a wrestler to destructicate Endo, I wondered? I thought probably not. Takes the fun out of the Endo matches when he wins; winning, he isn't much of a thing. Well, they slapped and shoved at each other, and it was going Endo's way as expected. Now, what normally happens in a match like this is the other wrestler figures out that Endo has no finishing power, focuses, and pastes Endo to oblivion in dramatic fashion. Not so here: Takanosho wilted like a French cheese in an August breeze, and Endo got the good-looking oshi-dashi win, simply finishing knocking him back and out. "If only all the wrestlers were as inconsequential as Takanosho," Endo thought wistfully as he walked away.

M11 Okinoumi (2-1) vs. M10 Yutakayama (0-3)
Fast tachi-ai dominated by Okinoumi, who got his hands on Yutakayama's shoulders, elbows, and chest and pushed hard. When he sensed Yutakayama's resistance was at its maximum, he let go, stepped back, and let Yutakayama spring into the dirt like a misfired firecracker, tsuki-otoshi. Some pulls are good pulls; this was one of them.

M9 Kotoshogiku (2-1) vs. M10 Sadanoumi (3-0)
An all-Kyushu match-up. If some guys benefit from it sometimes, Sadanoumi is this time around: he is a very unlikely 3-0 guy at this point on the banzuke and in his career. Well, he's likable enough--go for it, man! No chance, though: Kotoshogiku scooped him up, right inside hand on the belt, and trundled him out like a wheelbarrow full of wet goose down, yori-kiri. Kotoshogiku looked great here, lower than he usually is and aggressive as always. Worked.

M11 Chiyonokuni (1-2) vs. M9 Daieisho (2-1)
Chiyonokuni had the upper hand early, bending Daieisho's head back consistently and working hard and fast to keep Daieisho on his heels. But there really is something to Daieisho: he is a fairly even size match with 'Kuni, and he just wasn't going to go out like that. All he had to do was resist and get his bearings. After he did that, he unleashed a tsuppari attack of his own, ferocious and directed straight into Chiyonokuni's grill, and combined it with putting his head down a couple times for extra drive. The result was a satisfying oshi-dashi win for the Little Red Monster.

M7 Abi (2-1) vs. M8 Takarafuji (1-2)
Up went Abi's arms, back went Takarafuji. That was the tachi-ai, and that was the match. It lasted a few moments longer, but Abi had gotten Takarafuji upright and moving the wrong direction. Takarafuji, reaching weakly for the belt in a lame and ineffective way, never recovered. He did what looked like a voluntary 180 degree spin at one point, and Abi almost okuri-dashi'ed him out, but they squared up just in time to turn the kimari-te back to oshi-dashi as Abi finished him off.

M6 Takanoiwa (1-2) vs. M8 Ikioi (0-3)
Shades of Hakuho, or so Takanoiwa thought: he cat-slapped Ikioi at the tachi-ai, then grabbed a left outside belt grip and bullied Ikioi around for a bit. Almost drove him right out, but Ikioi countered with a couple of throw attempts that saved him. Back the center they went, then hung out there a bit. I've always thought Ikioi was particularly strong, and he won this one in a beautiful, dominant way: his right arm was in under Takanoiwa's overhand grip, and Ikioi used that inside belt hold to drag Takanoiwa forward, flattening Takanoiwa's body out, then pushed him emphatically to the clay by the head with his other hand. Like pulling a length of dental floss from the container and clipping it off with the little metal shears. Shitate-nage.

M7 Shohozan (2-1) vs. M6 Kagayaki (1-2)
They were already having a nice fight and that lame-ass show-off, Konosuke, the yelling, deep-red-kimono'ed gyoji, made them stop for no reason. Shohozan looked at him like, "what the f, man?" But he complied. What are you going to do. Konosuke, the Joe West of sumo. You know something is wrong when you're talking about the umpire--if an umpire is doing his job, he doesn't make news. Anyway, Shohozan hit hard again on the second tachi-ai, but Kagayaki was ready for it this time, and was soon crushing him back. Kagayaki laid his body into him and it worked great. Couldn't quite get him over the straw though, so Kagayaki backed up there, and Shohozan collapsed to his knees in trying to respond, tsuki-otoshi, stutter-stepping forward like a guy walking into quicksand. Anyway, before they started, I don't know if I've seen a wrestler square his body to the gyoji in disdain like Shohozan did. Well, Konosuke earned it.

M5 Asanoyama (2-1) vs. M4 Yoshikaze (1-2)
Asanoyama had to be feeling pretty good about himself, getting both his arms inside and being in a low, charging position. But Yoshikaze felt even better about himself, calmly twisting in a circle, reaching down for a grip on the back of Asanoyama's belt, then pushing him in the face backwards and out, oshi-dashi. Nice veteran win for this tired old horse. Remember when SumoTalk used to make all kinds of caffeine jokes about Yoshikaze? Now he's a nice cup of Earl Grey tea.

M5 Chiyotairyu (2-1) vs. M3 Ryuden (1-2)
Here was one to look forward to; Chiyotairyu is the most explosive wrestler on the banzuke, and Ryuden has been steadily showing more game. Chiyotairyu thoroughly dominated this one; Ryuden showed no game at all. Chiyotairyu's blam! attack worked well off the tachi-ai, giving him momentum. Too much momentum, maybe: he pulled at the off-kilter Ryuden, and I sucked air through my teeth in a worried way: the pull has been the bane of Chiyotairyu's sumo career. However, Chiyotairyu seemed to realize it, and went back to his big-time push before it was too late. Ryuden couldn't do anything with any of it: he was a punching bag, lurching helplessly here and there at Chiyotairyu's will. In the end Chiyotairyu went pull again, and that finished it, hiki-otoshi. Ryuden was a sitting duck here; Chiyotairyu made him look very bad. Yes, Chiyotairyu sure can be some fun.

K Takakeisho (3-0) vs. M4 Shodai (2-1)
I've been waiting for this: the Takakeisho break out. You saw more signs of it today. On the Takakeisho side, he was concentrated and powerful, shoving in a focused, direct manner at Shodai's bulk. On the Shodai side, he was doing nothing, just standing there, letting himself get worked for show. The linear oshi-dashi force out looked great for Takakeisho, but this reminded me of Mitakeumi two tournaments ago: his opponents seemed to say, "Mitakeumi is pretty good, so why not let's let him look really good?" Watch out. This is happening.

S Mitakeumi (2-1) vs. M1 Myogiryu (1-2)
Speaking of Mitakeumi, here he was, not looking very good at all. His tachi-ai was good enough, driving Myogiryu to the rim, but Myogiryu seems to have been sent up here to play hell with expectations: he didn't go out, and instead surged in for a little chest-to-chest action and an outside left belt grip. He then added an upthrusting right forearm to the belly, and tripped Mitakeumi over the straw, yori-kiri. Zoinks! Chaos we says, and chaos there is, precious! I hereby pledge to continue enjoying the unexpected.

M1 Hokutofuji (1-2) vs. S Ichinojo (1-2)
I liked Hokutofuji's approach here a lot: thrust up hard into Ichinojo's face, then hunker down with his head on Ichinojo's breastbone and push up on his armpit with his right hand and his bicep with his left. Ichinojo has really long arms, and this allowed Ichinojo to reach way over Hokutofuji's back and grab the belt, but Ichinojo couldn't do anything with it. Some lateral movement might have been wise, but wasn't in the cards. Hokutofuji drove, switching to a couple of belt grips, right inside and left frontal, and pushed Ichinojo across the straw, yori-kiri. Another good win for the winner.

K Kaisei (0-3) vs. O Tochinoshin (2-1)
Tochinoshin surged right into a left outer, right inner belt grip in this simple chest-to-chest belt match, and you knew who was going to win that. The only guy in the division who is match for Tochinoshin on the belt is Hakuho; Kaisei had no chance here. Tochinoshin yori-kiri'ed him out with main strength in a few moments. I really hope Tochinoshin stays in the yusho race because Takayasu… well, I'm just not interested in that.

Meanwhile, at this point they showed Kisenosato in the hana-michi. It may be projection, but I've never seen a wrestler so sad and ashamed looking, trying not to look too sheepish, and hence failing all the more. It must be dreadful for him right now.

M3 Nishikigi (0-3) vs. O Takayasu (3-0)
I said I was going to enjoy this Nishikigi stuff and I have been. We got more of it today. Takayasu rammed him back, and Nishikigi got all off balance like a Ming vase bumped by a hand-cart. It wobbles, it weebles, and it does in fact fall down, all that precious china shattering on the floor as Takayasu stepped backwards and helped Nishikigi totter haplessly to the inevitable hataki-komi loss. I'd like to say Nishikigi at last made Takayasu look like an Ozeki, but really all we had here was Nishikigi looking like an M15 finding himself amidst the choppy waters of the top of the banzuke: Takayasu didn't have to do much but be there and let Nishikigi disintegrate like a cookie left too long in the milk.

Now they were showing Kisenosato sitting ringside. He honestly looked like he might just as happily throw himself off a bridge. Sullen, embarrassed dejection, unwilling self-loathing. Wow!

O Goeido (1-2) vs. M2 Tamawashi (2-1)
As Goeido was already 1-2 here and realistically out of the yusho hunt, I was curious to see whether Tamawashi would take advantage of him or be polite. It was the latter. Tamawashi got one or two good hits in, but then he slipped to the dirt in front of Goeido for no particular reason, putting both his hands down, hataki-komi. Family will be in town over the weekend and we will probably watch sumo together. They're going to cast doubt on my yaocho and mukiryoku narrative, and I will be looking for some matches to say, "see, here it is very obvious: look how the guy who won did nothing that would make the guy who lost lose, and look how the loser clearly took the initiative on the 'winning' move." This would have been a perfect one for that. My family will still probably say, "I don't know…" And I get it. That part of my narrative is no fun. And that is precisely how this stuff survives.

Y Kisenosato (0-3) vs. M2 Tochiohzan (3-0)
Tochiohzan wanted both arms inside, but only got one, and that wasn't enough. Kisenosato was able to wrap him up and drive him back. But oh, it wasn't easy for Kisenosato either--took some time, took some effort, wasn't working. And so, when push came to shove---and that's what it comes to in sumo--Tochiohzan was evading out of there to his left and dancing on the tawara while Kisenosato was sloppily falling forwards and out over the same straw. It was indeed close--at first I thought Tochiohzan's heel had gone out into the sand before Kisenosato flopped down. But the gyoji didn't think so. And after a mono-ii, the black crows didn't agree either. They were right: the replay told the clear tale: Kisenosato hit the dirt before Tochiohzan stepped out. It wasn't even particularly close.

Hoo man, I wouldn't want to be the furniture in Kisenosato's room after that one. Yikes. But let me be plain: Kisenosato should retire. Right now. This has been a dramatic and exciting way to open the tournament--has there ever been a more interesting 0-4 start?--but gratuitous humiliation isn't my favorite way to be entertained.

Tomorrow Mike rides a river of cream to an ocean of butter.

Day 3 Comments (Justin Williams reporting)
There is one beast being throttled and that is our sorry looking lone Yokozuna, Kisenosato. With the part-time Mongol Yokozuna deferring to history and deciding not to invade Kyushu this year, Kiso, despite being on his comeback and not quite as potent a force as he once was, would have been contemplating the opportunity for a great tournament victory. Instead, he is gasping for air at 0 and 2 with a feisty and difficult opponent today, Hokutofuji, also 0 and 2, ready to assist digging Kiso's grave.

Even at this early stage it is likely that Kiso is out of the challenge.  I do hope he doesn't withdraw as Harvye has intimated he will do. My guess is that the sumo association want him around: the fans definitely so, and every Maegashira doubly so for the potential kensho bonuses. Soldier on, big boy. Even though you are still as rusty as an unused tricycle, it's a gripping ride every time you step into the dohyo.

M16 Arawashi (0-2) vs. M16 Chiyomaru (0-2)
Arawashi's apparent knee injury is robbing him of performing anywhere near his potential. Like his doppelganger Chiyoshoma, he needs all lithe limbs functioning to compete ably with their full array of tricks. I like Chiyomaru, fuller than a tick on a tampon, he looks like someone looking at their reflection in the back of a spoon. This is another crucial match up for the two lowest ranked rikishi with one guy looking at a 0-3 after this bout. Arawashi's plan should be simple- keep the gut buster on the move and wait for the inevitable heart attack.  Chiyomaru lead with a two-hand thrust to Ara's neck, stepped aside a little and Arawashi threw himself to the clay. A quick uninspiring bout. If Arawashi keeps this stuff up then I cannot wait for him to join the Juryo boys.

M15 Daiamami (1-1) vs. M15 Meisei (2-0)
Daiamami is one of those lower guys I know little of and as yet, is not living up to the spirit of his original name, "Genki." Yesterday he found out the hard way all those warnings his mother told him every night before bedtime, "never trust a Mongolian," after being the victim of a sneaky Chiyoshoma leg sweep which I really enjoyed. Meisei is full of genki with two wins but concedes around 38kgs to Genki. Meisei was game and took Genki head on looking for the belt hold. Genki parried well, keeping Meisei's paws at bay and steadfastly walked Meisei backwards and out for a yori-taoshi 'crush out' win which sounds worse than what transpired.

M14 Chiyoshoma (2-0) vs M14 Daishomaru (1-1)
Cobra Kai has a new member and Chiyo has no qualms playing the heel. His "sweep the leg" move yesterday was perfect and I'm always keenly watching his bouts. To my chagrin he just barged headfirst towards Daishomaru without any intent that I could see. D'maru was a spectator as Chiyo fell forward for and easy tsuki-otoshi come "floppy-otoshi" win which Arawashi would have been proud of. "What a gip."

M13 Onosho (2-0) vs M13 Takanosho (0-2)
How did Onosho drop this low at M13? I sense it won't be for long. Only trouble is I feel he is a confidence performer- a win lifts it whereas a loss really knocks him around mentally. Unlike, say Tamawashi who looks as though he is there for the fun of it. Today's effort won't help his mood. Onosho started with a solid shove and a follow up pull. He tried another pull but found himself tangled in Takanosho's arms, then lost his momentum and balance which Taka took advantage of and shoved Onosho back on the ropes and out to put Taka on the scoreboard. This loss for Onosho won't ruin his basho but these losses ultimately hurt.

M12 Aoiyama (0-2) vs M12 Endo (1-1)
Endo thought he could out-tsuppari Aoiyama which is about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Endo tried hard but for Big Daniel, who is always trying to prove he not just a pair a big tits with arms, this was an easy workout. When he doesn't resort to pulling and just marches forward with his mighty arms clearing the path, it was only a matter of how far back in the seats Endo would fly this time. The end came quickly as he was ejected from the dohyo like a piece of phlegm coughed from an open mouth.

M11 Chiyonokuni (1-1) vs M11 Okinoumi (1-1)
The battle of the M11's!  Pre-tachi-ai, Chiyonokuni didn't seem quite his usual agitated self, ie as hyper-active as a Guy Ritchie movie. He flew into Oki who was all over him like a fat kid on a lamington (Australian sponge cake dipped in melted chocolate and grated coconut). Oki gained a right belt grip and thus a strong position and 'Kuni also had a left-hand belt grip though Oki had better physical pressure. 'Kuni attempted a weak left throw from a weak position whilst retreating and briefly slipped free on the dohyo edge had Oki close to the ropes from which Oki performed a lovely right underarm throw which 'Kuni gamely resisted as long as possible before touchdown. Oki was impressive here.

M10 Sadanoumi (2-0) vs M10 Yutakayama (0-2)
Both guys went in for a belt grip and both were repelled by some energetic thrusting but Sada maintained the attempts whilst Yutaka fended. Sada's persistence found reward as he eventually yori-kiri'ed Yutaka out. Yutakayama will be disappointed with his 0 and 3 start. I'm starting to think that despite his impressive size, his strength is lacking.

M9 Kotoshogiku (2-0) vs M9 Daieisho (1-1)
Since January 2017 Giku has dropped around 10 levels on the Banzuke and will need his hometown support to continue hanging around the main event. From the outset he and Daieisho clashed with exuberance with Daieisho gaining a left belt grip on Giku who could only wraps his arms around his foe along with some weak gaburi thrusts that seem to weaken each basho like a pen slowly running out of ink. Daieisho's grip proved decisive and with surprising strength he lifted and twisted Giku around and over the straw. Good win for him and his first ever over Giku.

M8 Ikioi (0-2) vs M8 Takarafuji (0-2)
I'm nearly always rooting for Ikioi but it's always a disappointing exercise. His issue is always that he is as stiff and unyielding as a church pew. The good thing in facing Takarafuji is you know there is no chance of getting hurt. You could match him against a hemophiliac whose bones are made of chalk and feel safe no harm could be done. The bus driver withstood easily the Ikioi charge, calmly gaining a left-hand belt grip. He then drove Ikioi back before employing a sweet shitate-nage arm throw and, in the process, easing him to the floor as he would help an old lady disembarking. Lovely work.

M7 Abi (1-1) vs M7 Shohozan (2-0)
Everyone talks about the length of Abi's arms as though they are longer than a German opera. Kagayaki handled them easily enough yesterday and I expected Shohozan to brush them aside and jump him like a mugger in the dark. Which doesn't look too much of a stretch for another local favourite. Well, surprise, surprise Abi let loose his gadget arms which kept Shohozan from closing in followed by a nifty pull and ever so slight rear belt pull for the uwate-nage win. Shohozan departed looking as miserable as a refugee. It's the occasional little shifts in dexterity and tactics which makes me hopeful for Abi's future.

M6 Takanoiwa (0-2) vs M6 Kagayaki (1-1)
Takanoiwa is not very popular in his native Mongolia right now after attempting to extort some compensation money from Harumafuji for loss of earnings following the well-publicized beating from late last year. This got me wondering whether the rikishi have income insurance in case of injury? His personal life must be distracting but he only has to concentrate for about 30 seconds a day to pick some extra cash so I was expecting a good contest between these two evenly matched competitors. Both guys bullocked into each other with a clash of heads and Kaga drove vainly whilst Takanoiwa firmly held his ground. Kaga's feet gave way and collapsed quicker than a dropped assault lawsuit for a compensatory win to the Mongolian.

M5 Chiyotairyu (1-1) vs M5 Asanoyama (2-0)
Will Chiyotairyu have his ample engine stoked and deploy his trusty 'Tongan side-step' as on display vs. Shodai, or will he dither about as he did against Yoshikaze? Thankfully it was the former and Asa did well to withstand the barrage, or barrages as the real 'Tairyu was intent on knocking that door down. Frontal force out with aplomb.

M4 Shodai (1-1) M4 Yoshikaze (1-1)
Yoshi mild breeze drove in hard and low looking for the belt but Shodai knows Yoshi is a dying ember these days and parried easily and keeping a strong solid stance. Yoshi kept trying but Shodai had no difficulty in man-handling him out, oshi dashi, finishing him off with a hefty left and a dame oshi to boot. Yoshikaze had a commendable score line at the Aki basho, 11-4 and yet as Mike pointed out there were no special prizes given out, meaning there were some soft wins helping him out. I really like him and I hope he keeps hanging in. But as a scrapper, if his inner heat isn't lit, he's only half as effective as his tenacity is his best weapon.

K Takakeisho (2-0) vs M3 Ryuden (1-1)
With a win over a Yokozuna and an Ozeki Takakeisho is all set to rock this basho. He loves getting physical, is quite light on his feet and upsets the rhythms of his opponents with his body, a round boulder on legs or that of a very large tadpole, awkward to combat. He came out with his usual vigor against Ryuden which was too much for him to handle and was disdainfully brushed aside into the spectators. Emphatic win for Taka.

M2 Tamawashi (1-1) vs S Ichinojo (1-1)
I'm hoping these two would both show up today with their game on. They should both be contenders this basho if they decide not compete with one another over who can win the "Mr Congeniality" contest. Tamawashi's intentions were clear as he rammed a left hand up with serious intent into Ichi's throat. Ichi, as athletic as a fridge, didn't/couldn't evade, stood firm and resisted but Tama just applied more pressure with all his weight behind it exacting a brutal oshi-dashi on Ichi who did well to keep his head intact. This effort from Tama makes a mockery of the dross he gave us against Mitakeumi yesterday


S Mitakeumi (1-1) vs M3 Nishikigi (0-2)
Nishikigi false started which I took as an indication of a willingness to start aggressively. From the re-start Mitakeumi was up and into him, driving Nishi to the edge. Nishi tried a couple of pointless throws whilst still in reverse but Mitake wasn't fazed and collected an easy win.

K Kaisei (0-0-2) vs O Takayasu (2-0)
Another contender for "Mr Congeniality," Kaisei makes his return and up against Takayasu, outside a bull ring two large slabs of furry meat is hard to find. Kaisei looked for a front belt grab on 'Yasu who used this ploy to his advantage and helped the bent over Kaisei on to the mat for a regulation slap-down win.

O Goeido (1-1) vs M2 Tochiohzan (2-0)
Goeido came out hard at the tachi-ai forcing Tochiohzan backwards for a seemingly standard force out for the Ozeki. As Takakeisho did yesterday, Tochi dodged left, and assisted Goeido's momentum who was again haplessly left staring into oblivion. Tochi was slightly unbalanced with his left leg in the dohyo and the right hovering over the ropes, but he was in control enough to wait and watch Goeido topple over the before calmly placing his leg astride the rope.

M1 Myogiryu (1-1) vs O Tochinoshin (1-1)
Myogiryu advanced gamely into Tochinoshin looking vainly for a left belt grip. Tochi wasn't fazed and whilst he couldn't gain his own mawashi hold he had 'Giryu head down in a nice arm lock with nowhere to go. Shin would have rathered a double belt grip and carry his opponent out bur credit to "Giryu for at least avoiding that embarrassment, so instead the Shin eased backwards for a comfy win by slap down.

Y Kisenosato (0-2) vs M1 Hokutofuji (0-2)
Hokutofuji knows he's in for a chance today as he's beaten Kiso before and always displays gumption and determination and unlike Kiso, relishes a tussle. From the engagement Kiso was looking for a left inside grip whilst 'Fuji kept thrusting back at Kiso until he found he hold of Kiso's left forearm and neatly stepped aside leaving Kiso off balance. From here he landed a couple of mild throat jabs then an effective one lifting Kiso up and followed with the right arm thrust down and another kin-boshi. Kiso was left lying on his side with a sort of, "oh no, not again" look on his face as it dawned on him, his days are numbered. With his pride in tatters, his future uncertain, he exited the dohyo limper than a Frenchman's handshake.

As I said before, I do hope he sticks this basho out. If he does withdraw without an apparent injury as an excuse, it demeans the entire contest. Plenty of Rikishi will be lining up for the chocolates and plenty of intrigue to come.

Over to Harvye tomorrow.

Day 2 Comments (Harvye Hodja reporting)
Sifting through the wreckage at the top of the banzuke, before day one started I already thought this tournament was a real puzzler to pick a winner from. You had two classes of candidates. In an upright world, you'd go with the talent class: you'd be looking at a simple showdown of strength, skill, and consistency over fifteen days between Indian-summer-hero Tochinoshin and he's-been-here-forever-but-he's-still-young / when-is-he-finally-going-to-break-out Ichinojo. And that is a duel I'd be happy to spend a fortnight following. The second class of candidates was a less inspiring group: your political-world calculus club. In most sumo tournaments the yusho is going to go to a Yokozuna or Ozeki, and your three remaining doofuses in this class were Kisenosato, Takayasu, and Goeido. Of these three, a Kisenosato victory is something to dread: meaning a throwaway tournament, marking time. A Goeido win would also just be cover: He has his yusho win already, and no one seems to care about him getting another. This made Takayasu the favorite to take the yusho for most sensible people: we've been talking about him taking one for a year or so now, it would make a perfectly sensible narrative, and he is a decent wrestler.

But he never manages it.

So, my dark horse candidate came from outside of all this: Mitakeumi. If he took the yusho in July, why shouldn't he be able to take it now? The sumo world is hungry for his success, and skipping over the flotsam at the higher ranks straight to him is like going from no phones to cell phones in rural Mali: who needs land lines? Yeah, Mitakeumi sucked in September. But with Hak and Kak out, coming into this tournament Mitakeumi was as good a candidate as any.

Then came the Day 1 carnage. Even before we got to the top ranks, it was a day of the weak beating the strong. Chiyonokuni beat Yutakayama. Sadanoumi beat Daieisho. Yoshikaze beat Chiyotairyu. Ichinojo came within a hair of being driven straight out by Nishikigi--yipes. Then, in quick succession, mummified has-been Tochiohzan felled MItakeumi, Tamawashi drilled Tochinoshin out with ease, and Takakeisho swiped Kisenosato down, wrecking the dreams of millions.

And so, we were on. Who are your yusho contenders now? One day is just one day, but in a yusho race each loss counts for a lot, so the signals looked bad for Kisenosato, Mitakeumi, and Tochinoshin. The smart money remained on Takayasu or Goeido (dreamers and optimists were welcome to continue to invest hope in Ichinojo; one day it will come true).

If I could, I wouldn't bet on any of them. If you could place a bet on "chaos," I would: that's where the smartest money is going this time around.

M16 Arawashi (0-1) vs. J1 Kotoeko (0-1)
Arawashi got destroyed again today; it isn't looking good for him this basho. Whether it is the knee or he's lost momentum is not clear, but getting stood up like this by a Juryo guy looked pretty bad. Kotoeko stuck his right arm under Arawashi's pit, knocked him upright, and drove him summarily out, oshi-dashi. Now, it did look to me like Arawashi could have turned and evaded more at the end--he gave in too easily there--so he may have some better results behind the curtain. He's going to need them now, though.

M16 Chiyomaru (0-1) vs. M15 Meisei (1-0)
Two dudes both from Kagoshima, so the crowd was going to be happy and sad all at the same time whatever happened. Meisei was aggressive and looked good yesterday, and he was lively again today, albeit with a different approach: he evaded to his left off the tachi-ai contact and, using Chiyomaru's forward momentum against him, lifted Chiyomaru from behind with his leg while wrenching him down with an arm over the shoulder, kote-nage, rolling Chiyomaru prettily to the dirt. Because when your name is "maru," which means "round," you roll nicely.

M14 Chiyoshoma (1-0) vs. M15 Daiamami (1-0)
Chiyoshoma should clean up down here, but I thought that last tournament. You never know what he or Arawashi are going to do, so they are bad picks to bet with. However, while Arawashi is looking terrible, Chiyoshoma has been in control the first two days, and I expect him to pile up wins the first week, then skate to eight or nine at a time when it is convenient to him. He had a right inside grip in this one and was leading Daiamami around the ring like a cow in the paddock, but almost got pushed out while busy with this; he had to evade and they had separation. Chiyoshoma then sized up Daiamami for a moment and whapped him hard in the side of the head, bang! This worked fine; Daiamami was startled and appeared a bit angry, and when they got back to tangling Chiyoshoma pulled another trick, striking lightning quick with a kick to the ankle that sent the rotund Daiamami to the dirt, ke-kaeshi (which you don't see too often). This one may have felt like a different sport than sumo, but it was fun to watch.

M14 Daishomaru (0-1) vs. M13 Takanosho (0-1)
I have no use for either of these guys. They pushed on each other's shoulders, then Daishomaru put one hand up top, lurched backwards, and dragged Takanosho down by the head, hataki-komi. So it goes.

At least there was that young dude a row or two back from the salt baskets wearing a T-shirt that said "Spam Boys."

M12 Aoiyama (0-1) vs. M13 Onosho (1-0)
Onosho is another guy who should be cleaning up down low, but got beat around badly last time out, giving me pause on his prospects this time out. So far so good, though--he gave Endo a traditional Endo-drubbing yesterday, and today got underneath Aoiyama's meat-clobber attack, put both hands forward, and drove hard. Fling! Off the dohyo went Aoiyama like a fat, greasy hamburger sliding off your spatula and onto the kitchen floor, oshi-dashi.

M12 Endo (0-1) vs. M11 Okinoumi (1-0)
Speaking of Endo, while yesterday's wasting of him is a standard type of Endo result, I don't expect the Association or his stable to let him suffer down here too much; he is worth too much money. I predict a lot of wins (I started to write "a very strong tournament," but that doesn't describe what I'm expecting). Today Okinoumi stood there like a cotton-stuffed scarecrow in the rain while Endo knocked him over into the corn rows, oshi-dashi. It doesn't really deserve any more description that that: even I could beat a sodden scarecrow. Just gotta stuff something else into his overall pocket before or after.

M10 Sadanoumi (1-0) vs. M11 Chiyonokuni (1-0)
As long as I'm in Day 2 prediction mode, let us also note that while Chiyonokuni is a gear whose teeth cannot catch when ranked up high, down here his speed and hijinx are something to be reckoned with, and he should do very well. Unfortunately for him, he went too straight up in this one, and Sadanoumi wrapped him up. 'Kuni did get his left arm inside on the belt, but while he was doing that Sadanoumi was centering him with a frontal belt grip, then enveloping him with his arms and driving him out so straight and forcefully that it ended in yori-taoshi: a knock-over, with Sadanoumi toppling satisfyingly on top of him down in the trenches. Liked it.

M10 Yutakayama (0-1) vs. M9 Daieisho (0-1)
I'm expecting big things out of Treasure Mountain (Yutakayama) this time, like this match: Daieisho is a battler, but he is too small and Yutakayama should have been able to handle him. For that, however, he'd have had to have grabbed him. Instead, he opted for a tsuppari battle, which gave Daieisho a chance. Daieisho took advantage of it, focusing on two things: up, and in. Up, meaning he kept knocking Yutakayama's hands off high and wide. In, meaning he would pummel Yutakayama in the sternum when he got the chance. It worked well enough that when Daieisho went for the pull, Yutakayama stumbled to the dirt, seasoned and ready, tsuki-otoshi, as Daieisho danced happily on the tawara.

M8 Ikioi (0-1) vs. M9 Kotoshogiku (1-0)
You could say Kotoshogiku had a mighty attack and could not be denied. A quick grip at the front of the mawashi, then moved that left hand up under the armpit and pushed with his right forearm on Ikioi's belly, removing Ikioi swiftly from the ring yori-kiri. Looked good. But Ikioi's stasis and his failure to evade at the edge looked bad. Onwards, sumo pilgrims, onwards.

M8 Takarafuji (0-1) vs. M7 Shohozan (1-0)
This was a good show, because you had one of the division's most passive wrestlers (Takarafuji) against one of its most aggressive (Shohozan). I loved Shohozan's approach. He positively leapt forward and up at the tachi-ai, stinging Takarafuji in the neck. He then concentrated on the body with shoves and grabs, and eventually got both arms inside. He continued to batter his arms around the sides of Takarafuji's body like a dude playing a double-sided bongo, and out Takarafuji went, oshi-dashi. Apparently Takarafuji was, as is his wont, waiting for something develop; against the burning firecracker that was Shohozan today, that wasn't going to work.

M6 Takanoiwa (0-1) vs. M7 Abi (0-1)
Ranked just below the top 16, and being wrestlers with some skill, both of these guys are properly positioned for a 10-win outcome. However, they're also ranked right where they belong, so it is far from a guarantee. Especially Takanoiwa, who hasn't been here in a while. Anyhoo, as it happens Abi got his long arms extended into Takanoiwa's windpipe area, and Takanoiwa looked befuddled by that and was easily pushed out, oshi-dashi. This is sumo, and this is Abi--of course he was going to do that! No befuddlement necessary. But, you know.

M6 Kagayaki (1-0) vs. M5 Asanoyama (1-0)
Boom! Body-smack tachi-ai from two big, lithe dudes. And it was on. Asanoyama kept it mobile and un-straight, and had an arm or two in there throughout. He won by pulling on the head while spinning the match in a circle, which looked underwhelming, but also by pulling up mightily with a strong grip on the back of the belt, uwate-nage, which clearly was overwhelming.

M4 Shodai (1-0) vs. M5 Chiyotairyu (0-1)
Imagine a giant, human sized vanilla soft-serve ice cream cone (Shodai) melting in the sun and standing in the middle of the railroad tracks while a freight train (Chiyotairyu) barrels towards it at high speed. Too late, Softcream realizes it is about to be hit and goo-slung all over the ties, rails, and gravel of the railroad. And so it was: a ramrod oshi-dashi annihilation of Shodai. This represented Chiyotairyu at his best; it is fun when he does this. Doom. Doom! DOOM!!

M4 Yoshikaze (1-0) vs. M3 Ryuden (0-1)
Oh, Yoshikaze. Whither your twilight days? These two head-butted hard, then Ryuden used superior youth and strength to drive Yoshikaze straight to the knacker yard, oshi-dashi. Ouch.

S Mitakeumi (0-1) vs. M2 Tamawashi (1-0)
And whither this tournament? Skill wise, this match should have been all Tamawashi. Politics wise, Mitakeumi needed this one badly. Would those of you who dream of a Tamawashi run see another pearl strung onto the delicate necklace of impossible dream, or would the inevitability of Mitakeumi's Ozeki-hood continue to slouch its way towards Gomorrah? Tamawashi put his head down and "worked hard," but Mitakeumi put his body and chest forward and needed no quotation marks. Tamawashi should have been whapping or evading, not burrowing his nose into Mitakeumi's shoulder. Mitakeumi never had anything in terms of grips, and in the end wasn't doing anything with his arms, but he scored the oshi-dashi win by some pretty good pressure with his chest and belly, which are rather large. I think Tamawashi could have done better with another strategy, but Mitakeumi did well with his.

M2 Tochiohzan (1-0) vs. S Ichinojo (1-0)
As with yesterday, Ichinojo had a huge skill advantage. I'll give Tochiohzan credit though: his second unlikely victory in two days looked pretty good. Ichinojo had just twisted cleverly to the side to get out of moro-zashi danger and had commenced with careful but powerful shoves that would soon have put paid to Tochiohzan's close-in efforts. However, Tochiohzan slipped to the side snake-quick, and Ichinojo fell, putting his hands on the clay, hiki-otoshi. Them's the breaks, right? Maybe when you're Ichinojo.

O Goeido (1-0) vs. K Takakeisho (1-0)
Okay, I think I just figured out who is going to be the hype-boy, the yusho-challenger, the Special Prize winner, the Next Big Thing this tournament. It dawned clear as daylight: Takakeisho. I think Goeido gave this one to him, too. Ruh-roh. They were holding onto each other's bodies first. Then they struck each other in the face a couple of times. But the end looked unnatural: they had some separation, and Takakeisho stepped aside and slapped Goeido hard on the shoulder. This apparently sent Goeido stumbling forward halfway across the dohyo and down, tsuki-otoshi. I know Takakeisho hits hard, but this? It looked like Goeido walked into and through it on purpose. Hoo, boy. We shall see. Oh, yes. We shall see.

M3 Nishikigi (0-1) vs. O Tochinoshin (0-1)
What in goodness name is Nishikigi doing up here? It seems totally wrong. His moment against Ichinojo was startling yesterday, but we all saw how that turned out. Look for, oh, 2-13. It wouldn't surprise me if yesterday's surprise driving-back of Ichinojo turns out to be his tournament highlight. Well, he did okay again today. As they forearm-barred each other at the tachi-ai, Nishikigi kept Tochinoshin off his body, and for a split-second also had him off balance as the line of attack shifted. No matter; Tochinoshin shoved him sideways, blasted him backwards with his body once or twice, and banged him out, yori-kiri. I hereby pledge to enjoy Nishikigi stuff this tournament: like a ripe ginkgo nut facing the city steamroller.

M1 Hokutofuji (0-1) vs. O Takayasu (1-0)
Hokutofuji had this one under control and in his hands throughout. He got low and pushed consistently up and in hard, to the chest and to the neck, and had Takayasu on defense. On it went, with Takayasu keeping his feet spread to survive and working to get his arms under Hokutofuji's. They entered a moment of stasis. Hokutofuji's renewed push spun Takayasu around, and it looked like curtains for High 'n' Easy (Takayasu). But Hokutofuji followed too slowly at first, letting Takayasu finish the 360 degree spin, and too fast late, next sprawling four-limbs-akimbo to the dirt into the place Takayasu no longer was in, giving Takayasu a comeback hataki-komi win. Too bad. If Takayasu is going to win it with sumo like this, it is going to be a real tooth-grinder.

Y Kisenosato (0-1) vs. M1 Myogiryu (0-1)
I'm sorry, but we have some guys in the jo'i this time who really, really don't belong: Nishikigi and Myogiryu (I would say Tochiohzan is a bit of an old story too). What under the heavens is Myogiryu doing in the last bout of the day? Why, fighting Kisenosato, as it so happens. Well, that feels strange. And when is the last time none of the last four bouts featured a Mongolian? Given all that, look what happened. Myogiryu got his left arm inside immediately and they grasped hands on the other side, then there was a lot of ferocious juddering as Myogiryu attempted to move Kisenosato with kinetic force. Didn't work--but after Myogiryu calmed down and Kisenosato responded with a sloppy attack, Myogiryu got the other arm inside too. Dang! He had Kisenosato dead to rights. Would he? Wouldn't he? He worked it, keeping focused and pressing his advantage, bodying the Yokozuna back. Kisenosato literally collapsed sideways over the tawara, exhausted, as Myogiryu finished him off, yori-taoshi. This little man from the depths of the banzuke. Knocked. The Yokozuna. Over.

As Myogiryu turned away, Kisenosato rolled slowly and majestically off the dohyo like a dead beluga whale.

Could my prediction come true that Kisenosato will have to retire by the end of the year? Probably not. But it wouldn't surprise me if he has to withdraw in a few days.

Open the floodgates, let the chaos in. It wants to flood all over the place.

Tomorrow Justin throttles the beast.

Day 1 Comments (Mike Wesemann reporting)
I came this close to writing an Aki post-basho report two months ago because there were three key storylines at the end of the basho that I felt needed to be addressed. I never did get around to putting anything on paper, but it will make for a good intro as we kick of the Kyushu basho.

Storyline one focused on Takanohana and his resignation from the Sumo Association. As soon as the Aki basho concluded, every news outlet began running stories about continued conflict between Takanohana and the Sumo Association. In July, the NSK established a rule saying that all stables needed to be affiliated with an Ichimon by the end of July. This was a kinder way of telling Takanohana that he was going to get booted from the Association if he didn't join up with an Ichimon. Unfortunately for him, nobody wanted to take him in because of all the baggage he brings, and so the rikishi from the Takanohana-beya were in violation during the Aki basho because they were fighting unaffiliated to an Ichimon. Takanohana resigned a few days after Aki citing dissatisfaction at the way in which the investigation was handled into the whole Takanoiwa incident that resulted in Takanohana's getting demoted two ranks in the oyakata hierarchy.

Ultimately, there were several key elements from that Takanoiwa event that have yet to be reconciled or explained:

- Who really beat the crap out of Takanoiwa? The day after the alleged incident with Harumafuji, Takanoiwa was back in the ring fighting without a mark on his body. That mugshot where Takanoiwa's face was beaten in came from an incident on or around November 5th that sent Takanoiwa to the hospital for reals
- Takanohana never did admit to submitting a false hospital report to the Sumo Association accounting for Takanoiwa's injuries
- Takanohana never did explain why he filed a police report without informing the Association first
- Takanohana never did explain why he lied to the Association when they first contacted him about the incident after the police informed the Association that the aforementioned police report had been filed

Takanohana was really painted into a corner by the Association, but he's the one who brought all of this on himself. And don't think there still aren't scars leftover from when he tried to upset the election system a decade or so ago and force his way onto the board of directors.

Takanohana's departure from the NSK is not a huge loss. The dude had no charisma whatsoever, and if there is a negative effect from his resignation, it'd be that fans completely devoted to him may stop watching the sport. Come to think of it, I'm kinda jealous of such people.   Don't be surprised if sometime in the future we learn what really happened to Takanoiwa, and when the news does come, it will be better off that Takanohana is no longer a member of the Association.

The next storyline surrounding the end of the Aki basho was the fact that no rikishi were awarded sansho prizes. I don't ever remember that happening previously, and the lack of any sansho is simply an indication of just how much yaocho is going on in sumo right now. When you stop and think about it, was anybody doing anything in Aki to get us excited??  So many rikishi were laying down during the Aki basho that it was impossible to even come up with fake sansho.

The final headline that caught my eye was the publishing of the final tally of kensho winners during the Aki basho. The kensho are those advertisement banners that get marched around the ring prior to key Makuuchi bouts. When I first started researching sumo in the early 90's, I'm pretty sure I read in a book that companies paid 60,000 yen (approximately $550 USD) per banner. Half of that money went to the winner of the bout while half went to the Association.

I've been under that assumption the last few decades, but after Aki I came across an article in the Nikkan Sports newspaper that reported kensho currently cost 62,000 yen apiece with 56,700 of that going to the winner. The article then listed the top five receivers of kensho money this basho (Hakuho, Kisenosato, Kakuryu, Goeido, Mitakeumi) along with the total number of banners and the amount of money that went to the rikishi as follows:



The Aki basho set a new record for total kensho banners at 2,160 surpassing the previous mark set in 2005. If you're scoring at home, over a million dollars in untraceable cash was floating around the venue during the Aki basho. Many of Kisenosato's bouts had 40 or more kensho banners meaning if a Maegashira rikishi beat him, he'd earn more for that victory than he would from his monthly paycheck. On the surface you'd say, "Well then why don't all of Kisenosato's opponents just kick his ass and take the money?"

The answer to that is look up in the stands and see just how beneficial it is to have Japanese rikishi in elite ranks. If there are no Yokozuna or Ozeki on the board, there are no fans in the seats, and there might be a third of the sponsor money marched around the ring. A rising tide lifts all boats, and that's why so many rikishi still let Kisenosato win. Furthermore, there is no doubt that a rikishi who lets Kisenosato (or anybody else) win also gets a cut of the kensho money. Win or lose, everybody wins. Sponsor money is heavily used to finance yaocho in sumo these days, and it wouldn't surprise me if the poorer stables actually finance part of their operations by arranging/throwing bouts to key rikishi and then getting paid serious chunks of cash for it. The cash is definitely there with no paper trail, and we can definitely see that sumo is compromised to the extent that they can't even award special prizes.

With that said, let's get to the day 1 action that started with Yago visiting from Juryo to take on M16 Chiyomaru. These two rikishi fight with similar styles in that they employ tsuppari with the hopes of setting up a pull. Chiyomaru scored a few seconds in on a nice pull attempt that sent Yago stumbling towards the edge, but Maru failed to rush in and finish off the job. After letting Yago recover, the two traded tsuppari and positioning around and around the dohyo with Chiyomaru absorbing everything in stride and Yago unable to bully Chiyomaru back and out. After about 20 seconds, with Yago lamely placing his right arm underneath Chiyomaru's outstretched left, Maru just toppled himself over and down to the dirt. They ruled it as tsuki-otoshi, but there was no action from Yago's part to warrant that. Clear yaocho to start the basho.

M16 Arawashi went for the left frontal belt grip of M15 Daiamami while shading to his left, and from that point he just opened his arms wide allowing Daiamami to get to the inside and force Arawashi back and across as if he wasn't even there. Arawashi's got a sweet bedroll wrapped around his left knee, but I think he gave this one to Daiamami as it was Arawashi who put himself in that bad position, not Daiamami's tachi-ai.

With M14 Daishomaru looking pull from the start, M15 Meisei forced his way into moro-zashi and dispatched Daishomaru straight back in about two seconds. There was no fight whatsoever from Daishomaru here intentionally or not.

M14 Chiyomaru struck M13 Takanosho well at the tachi-ai and then just grabbed his outstretched right arm yanking Takanosho down and out in less than two seconds.

I actually like seeing M13 Onosho and M12 Endoh down this low in the ranks. I say make these guys earn their climb up the banzuke. Today we got a straight up fight from the two that saw Onosho punish Endoh from the start with a nice tsuppari attack, and as Endoh tried to counter with tsuppari of his own, Onosho was too quick moving laterally and tugging Endoh off balance. After a few moves this way and what, Onosho scored on a nice pull at the back of Endoh's shoulder sending him clear across the dohyo where Onosho rushed forward finishing off his foe oshi-dashi style for the nice win.

M12 Aoiyama was proactive in moving forward at the tachi-ai with a decent tsuppari attack against M11 Okinoumi, but Okinoumi had plenty of room near the edge to slip to his left and get that left arm firmly to the inside, and with the tables turned now, Okinoumi grabbed a right outer grip and escorted Aoiyama back in stride. Good win here from Okinoumi to start the festivities.

The tachi-ai between M11 Chiyonokuni and M10 Yutakayama was fiddy-fiddy, but Chiyonokuni snuck in a left slap to Yutakayama's jaw that stood the M10 upright to where Chiyonokuni was able to latch onto a right outer grip and sling Yutakayama clear over to the edge where he dispatched him for good with final shoves to the chest. Chiyonokuni's speed won out here.

M9 Daieisho nudged M10 Sadanoumi back slowly with his tsuppari attack, but his thrusts were too high enabling Sadanoumi to move left and tug at Daieisho's right arm so hard that Daieisho lost his footing slipping forward up against the tawara. From this awkward position, Sadanoumi rushed in and pushed his foe over from the side. Daieisho lost this one by focusing his tsuppari up too high.

At this point of the broadcast, there was a bit of excited commotion in the stands, and it made sense when M9 Kotoshogiku stepped up into the ring. M8 Takarafuji is the superior rikishi, but he ain't no spoiler. The two hooked up in hidari-yotsu from the git-go where Takarafuji just went limp allowing Kotoshogiku to work him back towards the edge where Takarafuji sloppily stepped about a meter beyond the straw giving Kotoshogiku the easy win. These dudes have fought so many bouts in the ring starting with keiko that they know exactly where they're at in the ring at all times, so to see someone step out like this is a clear sign of yaocho.

More excitement in the arena means another Fukuoka rikishi in M7 Shohozan who was paired against M8 Ikioi. Ikioi actually came out with some nice ikioi from the tachi-ai bodying Shohozan back quickly with both arms wrapped around Shohozan's extended left, but near the edge Shohozan sorta pulled at Ikioi's arm causing Ikioi to just dive to the dirt in yaocho fashion. They ruled it tottari, which is an arm twist down, but Shohozan was in no position to execute that move, and as the announcers watched the replay they were saying it was more like hikkake. It's hard to pinpoint kimari-te when yaocho is involved, and Ikioi clearly took a dive in this one after gaining all the momentum from the tachi-ai.

M7 Abi came with his usual high tsuppari from the tachi-ai against M6 Kagayaki, but Kagayaki took it in stride backing up a bit and to his left easily getting his left arm up and under Abi's extended right, and he used that to wrench Abi completely off balance before shoving him out in the end.

M6 Takanoiwa and M5 Asanoyama hooked up in the gappuri migi-yotsu position from the tachi-ai and treated us to a pretty good belt match. As the rikishi went back and forth in the dohyo, both rikishi's belts were slipping up high, and during the first pause Takanoiwa retooled his outer grip into the better position, but he allowed Asanoyama to dictate the pace here, and so Asanoyama broke off Takanoiwa's outer without much of a fight and then easily dumped the Mongolian to the dirt with a nice belt throw. Takanoiwa was mukiryoku in this one, but it was still nice execution from Asanoyama.

More clapping and commotion from the crowd means another Kyushu rikishi stepping into the ring in M4 Yoshikaze who was paired against M5 Chiyotairyu. Would Chiyotairyu make it three for three in favor of the Kyushu rikishi? Indeed he would coming forward for a split second at the tachi-ai before pulling back on any type of oshi charge and opting to look for a pull. A pull would never come as he just stood there with arms up high faking downward slaps that never connected, and Chiyotairyu ultimately just raised his arm up high saying come and get me. At that point Yoshikaze rushed in grabbing moro-zashi as Chiyotairyu moved himself across the dohyo near the edge, and they ruled it sukui-nage in favor of Yoshikaze, but this was more Chiyotairyu's just running himself out of the dohyo. Normally, when a rikishi executes a throw, he's grounded to the dohyo, but Cafe was just along for the ride because he was so off balance he ended up tumbling right out of the ring on top of Chiyotairyu. Scoop throw shmoop throw. This was a sloppy yaocho on the part of Chiyotairyu, and they are clearly keeping the fans happy here.

Our final Kyushu rikishi stepped into the ring in M4 Shodai, and once again, his opponent was mukiryoku gifting the Kyushu rikishi the sloppy win. M3 Ryuden kept his arms wide open at the tachi-ai gifting Shodai moro-zashi, but Shodai could do nothing with it, and so Ryuden grabbed both outer grips and led the dance as the two maneuvered around the ring, and with Shodai kinda getting the left arm into a deeper position against his foe, Ryuden just let up completely allowing Shodai to spill him over and down with a very awkward inside belt throw. The ending here just wasn't right because in a proper bout of sumo we would have seen a nage-no-uchi-ai with Shodai throwing with that left inner and Ryuden countering with the right outer. What we got was both rikishi spinning down and rolling with Shodai just tumbling over his foe beyond the edge. As they showed the replays, Kitanofuji was asked if there was any oomph to Shodai's sumo, and the immediate response was "none." As they watched the bout unfold, there was nothing there to praise from Shodai, and all of the comments were negative like, "Shodai needs more drive," or "Shodai needs to do this better." When yaocho occurs, we often see this in the analysis afterwards where the announcers can't find a single thing to praise...and yet, the hometown guy wins!!

Sekiwake Ichinojo was lazy at the tachi-ai allowing M3 Nishikigi to get the right arm inside and drive Ichinojo back, but the Mongolith knew exactly where he was in the ring and halted his foe's charge by grabbing a solid left outer grip. Coupled with the right inside on the opposite end, Ichinojo was able to quickly right the ship and take command of the bout driving Nishikigi methodically back to the other side of the ring before forcing him out in perfect yori-kiri fashion. Credit Nishikigi for at least trying to win, but the skill level between these two is completely lopsided in favor of the Sekiwake.

Sekiwake Mitakeumi had no punch from the tachi-ai against M2 Tochiohzan who easily stood his ground. It wasn't exactly as if Mitakeumi was firing tsuppari, but his arms were extended into his opponent up high, but with no pressure being applied, Oh was able to keep the Sekiwake off balance by pushing up into his extended arms, and as Mitakeumi slowly advanced, Tochiohzan was able to suddenly shift left and catch the Sekiwake with a shove up and under into his right armpit area. It started out as a scoop throw, but as Mitakeumi slipped out of it, it morphed into a tsuki-otoshi, and the end result was Tochiohzan's dispatching Mitakeumi with such ease a newcomer would have to wonder whose really the Sekiwake? For all the hype given to Mitakeumi, it's funny to see Tochiohzan step up and just send him packing with very little effort.

Every year during the Kyushu basho, they start tallying up total wins for the year to see which rikishi will end up with the Saitasho (or most wins) for the year. As of the end of the Aki basho, the top four were as follows:

Kakuryu, Tochinoshin: 51
Mitakeumi: 46
Takayasu: 44

With Kakuryu withdrawing this basho and emphasizing to the Japanese fans that yes, Yokozuna often go kyujo, Ozeki Tochinoshin is now the favorite to win the most bouts this calendar year. He had a tough test today against M2 Tamawashi, and The Mawashi showed why easily fending off Tochinoshin's kachi-age and light tsuppari by getting his arms up and under virtually cupping both of Tochinoshin's teets with both hands, and the Ozeki knew he was in trouble at this point, so he attempted to evade right and catch Tamawashi with a counter pull, but Tamawashi was in his craw throughout easily dispatching the Ozeki in a dominating performance for the Mongolian.

Ozeki Takayasu obliterated M1 Myogiryu getting the left arm inside at the tachi-ai and driving Myogiryu back and across with no resistance. As they watched the replay, Mainoumi said of Myogiryu, "He didn't even hit him. He's just standing there holding onto his opponent." And it was true. Myogiryu kept his hands up high just gifting Takayasu anything he wanted, and then the M1 made no effort to counter once Takayasu mounted his charge. When the announcers watch the replay and they're focused on how listless the loser was without saying anything positive of the victor's sumo, it's just another sign of mukiryoku sumo.

In similar bout, M1 Hokutofuji kept his arms up high and out of harm's way against Ozeki Goeido. Problem was we're dealing with Goeido here, and he couldn't read the situation, so he was striking and then retreating as if to set up a pull all the while with Hokutofuji just standing there for the taking. For his part Hokutofuji faked a few pulls, but he was not looking to win this, and the final sequence began with Hokutofuji pushing lightly into the side of Goeido's face with the right hand all while turned sideways 90 degrees. It was way awkward, but it was just the awkwardness that Goeido needed to finally score the oshi-dashi win in this ugly, ugly bout.

It's quite comical how everyone's been speaking in reverent tones regarding Kisenosato's being the lone Yokozuna this basho who must shoulder the entire burden for his rank. I mean, it's as if this is a convention for librarians. Course, I know a few heavy set librarians of my own who could kick Kisenosato's ass if they'd just let females atop the ring.

Today, Kisenosato was paired against Komusubi Takakeisho who has chosen to defeat Kisenosato twice in their last three meetings. Both rikishi exhibited a good tachi-ai here with neither taking control, and so the two stood toe to toe trading blows. On the bright side, this was as good of an effort as I've seen from Kisenosato in a very long time. On the negative side, despite his best efforts and shoves, he wasn't able to budge Takakeisho, and so Takakeisho dictated the pace here going for his usual shoves and swipes while moving laterally to keep Kisenosato off balance. There was about 15 seconds worth of action here as both rikishi traded blows with neither rikishi physically moving their foe backwards. In the end, Takakeisho slipped to the side of Kisenosato and offered a roundhouse left slap at the back of Kisenosato's right shoulder that sent him face-planting into the dirt.

I think people who want to believe that Kisenosato really is a Yokozuna can take a few positives from this point, but the fact remains that despite his best efforts, Kisenosato was not able to move Takakeisho backwards, and then a Yokozuna should never fall to the dirt like that at the hands of a Komusubi. To his credit, Kisenosato looked as genki here as we've seen him in years, but it was still up to Takakeisho to dictate the pace, and that he did as he picked up a sweet brick of kensho money to boot.

Well, without Hakuho and Kakuryu fighting this tournament, we are definitely missing that certain standard of sumo, and it showed today. I can already tell that this is going to be a rudderless basho, and don't be surprised if the yusho line falls to at least three losses and possibly four.

Harvye checks in tomorrow.